JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 


By  the  same  Author 


Jack  the  Young  Cowboy 
Jack  the  Young  Trapper 
Jack  the  Young  Canoeman 
Jack  the  Young  Explorer 
Jack  in  the  Rockies 
Jack  Among  the  Indians 
Jack  the  Young  Ranchman 
Pawnee  Hero  Stories  and  Folk 

Tales 
Black  foot  Lodge  Tales 
The  Story  of  the  Indian 
The  Indians  of  To-day 
The  Punishment  of  the  Stingy 
American  Duck  Shooting 
American  Game  Bird  Shooting 
Trails  of  the  Pathfinders 


JACK 
IN    THE    ROCKIES 

OR 

A  BOY'S  ADVENTURES  WITH  A  PACK  TRAIN 

BY 

GEORGE  BIRD  GRINNELL 

Author  of  "Jack  the  Young  Ranchman,"  "Jack  Mmong  the  Indians,'* 

"Pawnee  Hero  Stories,"  "  Blackfoot  Lodge  Tales," 

"The  Storjf  of  the  Indian,"  "  The  Indian 

of  To- Day,"  Etc. 

Illustrated  by 
EDWIN   WILLARD   DEMING 


1r 


NEW   YORK 

FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  1904, 
By  Frederick  A.  Stokes  Company 

AU  rights  reserzxrd 
Thirteenth  Printing 


Printed  m  the  United  States  of  Amertca 


CONTENTS 


I 

II 

III 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

VIII 

IX 

X 

XI 

XII 

XIII 

XIV 

XV 

XVI 

XVII 

XVIII 

XIX 

XX 

XXI 

XXII 

XXIII 


PAG  a 

The  Indians  of  Fort  Berthold  .  9 
The  Battle  of  the  Musselshell  .  27 
The  Start  for  the  Blackfoot  Camp  43 
Old  Friends  and  New  ...  56 
Buffalo  Hunting  With  the  Black- 
feet       71 

Amid  Wonders  of  the  Yellowstone 

Park 86 

Geysers  and  Hot  Springs  .  .  .97 
Across  the  Continental  Divide  .  109 
An  Elk  Hunt  Under  the  Tetons  .  122 
Trailing  Black-tails  .  .  .  .137 
Tracks  in  the  Snow  .  .  .  .147 
What  will  Become  of  the  Elk?  .  160 
A  Pack  Horse  in  Danger  .        .        .172 

A  Bighorn 180 

A  Charging  Grizzly  .  .  .  .189 
Something  About  Bears  .  .  .194 
The  Story  of  A  Man  Killer  .  .202 
Jack's  First  Moose  .  .  .  .216 
Watching  a  Bear  Bait  .  .  .228 
A  Puzzling  Trail  .  .  .  .249 
Hugh  goes  "  On  Discovery"  .  .  248 
Stealing  from  Horse  Thieves  .  .  257 
"  Died  with  His  Boots  On"       o       .  266 


M2344b 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

"Throwing  His  Gun  to  His  Shoulder  He 

Fired  at  the  Animal  "      .        .    Frontispiece 

"  He  Reached  far  Forward,  and  Grasped  the 

Long  Hair  on  the  Buffalo's  Hump"    .    82 

••Almost  Below  Them,  Feeding,  Were  Two 

Good  Sized  Rams  " 183 

•"Hands  Up'!  Hugh  Called"       .       .       .268 


FOREWORD 

At  the  time  Jack  Danvers  journeyed  through  the 
Yellowstone  National  Park,  that  wonderful  country 
was  little  known.  Since  then  it  has  become  famous, 
and  people  from  all  parts  of  the  globe  go  to  visit  it. 
There  is  no  more  delightful  summer  excursion  possi- 
ble than  a  trip  to  the  National  Park  where  —  if  one 
can  take  a  pack  train  and  journey  away  from  the 
beaten  roads  and  trails  —  it  is  still  possible  to  see  elk 
and  deer  and  many  other  wild  animals,  almost  in  their 
old  time  abundance. 

In  the  spring  of  1903  President  Roosevelt  did  just 
this,  and  on  his  return  wrote  a  most  interesting  article 
about  what  he  saw,  telling  of  the  abundance  of  the 
elk,  the  familiarity  of  the  deer,  the  shyness  of  the 
antelope  and  the  tameness  of  the  mountain  sheep. 

American  boys  and  girls  are  happy  in  having  in 
their  own  country  so  lovely  and  so  marvelous  a 
region. 


Jack  in  the  Rockies 


CHAPTER   I 

THE  INDIANS   OF  FORT   BERTHOLD 

With  noisy  puffings  the  steamboat  was  slowly 
pushing  her  way  up  the  river.  On  either  side  the  flat 
bottom,  in  some  places  overgrown  with  high  willow 
brush,  in  others,  bearing  a  growth  of  tall  and  sturdy 
cotton-woods,  ran  back  a  long  way  to  the  yellow 
bluffs  beyond.  The  bluffs  were  rounded  and  several 
hundred  feet  in  height,  rising  imperceptibly  until 
they  seemed  to  meet  the  blue  of  the  sky,  so  that  the 
boat  appeared  to  be  moving  at  the  bottom  of  a  wide 
trough.  Hour  after  hour  she  pushed  on,  meeting 
nothing,  seeing  nothing  alive,  except  now  and  then  a 
pair  of  great  gray  geese,  followed  by  their  yellow 
goslings;  or  sometimes  on  the  shore  a  half-concealed 
red  object,  which  moved  quickly  out  of  sight,  and 
which  observers  knew  to  be  a  deer. 

On  the  boat  were  two  of  our  old  friends.  From 
the  far  East  had  come  Jack  Danvers,  traveling  day 
after  day  until  he  had  reached  Bismarck,  Dakota, 
where  he  found  awaiting  him  Hugh  Johnson,  as 
grave,   as  white-haired,   and  as    cheery   as    ever.      At 


lo  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

Bismarck  they  had  taken  the  up-river  steamer, 
"Josephine,"  and  the  boat  had  sailed  early  on  the 
morning  of  July  5th. 

Hugh  and  Jack  were  on  their  way  back  up  to  the 
Piegan  country.  They  had  separated  at  Bismarck 
the  previous  autumn,  and  while  Hugh  kept  on  down 
the  river,  to  take  a  west-bound  train,  which  should 
carry  him  back  to  Mr.  Sturgis'  ranch  in  Wyoming, 
Jack  had  gone  East,  to  spend  the  winter  in  New  York. 
He  had  had  a  year  of  hard  work  at  school,  for  his  ex- 
perience of  the  previous  winter  had  taught  him  that 
it  paid  well  to  work  in  school,  and  to  make  the  most  of 
his  opportunities  there.  This  made  his  parents  more 
willing  to  have  him  go  away  to  this  healthful  life, 
and  he  found  that  if  he  did  his  best  he  enjoyed  all 
the  better  the  wild,  free  life  of  the  prairie  and  the 
mountains,  which  he  now  hoped  would  be  his  during 
a  part,  at  least,  of  every  year. 

His  summer  with  the  Piegans  had  taught  him 
many  things  known  to  few  boys  in  the  East,  and 
given  him  many  pleasures  to  which  they  are  strangers; 
and  the  more  he  saw  of  this  prairie  life  the  more  he 
enjoyed  it,  and  the  more  he  hoped  to  have  more  and 
more  of  it.  Sometimes,  when  he  awoke  early  in  the 
morning,  or  at  night,  after  he  had  gone  to  bed,  as  he 
lay  between  sleeping  and  waking,  he  used  to  go  over 
in  his  mind  the  scenes  that  he  had  visited,  and  the 
stirring  adventures  in  which  he  hai  taken  part,  and 
these  memories,  with  the  hope  of  others  like  them, 
gave  him  a  pleasure  that  he  would  not  have  parted 
with  for  anything. 

Often  when  he  was  in  New  York,  walking  through 


THE  INDIANS  OF  FORT  BERTHOLD     ii 

narrow  city  streets,  looking  up  at  high  buildings, 
hearing  the  roar  and  rattle  of  the  passing  traffic,  and 
watching  the  people  hurry  to  and  fro,  each  one 
absorbed  in  his  own  business,  it  was  hard  to  realize 
that  away  off  somewhere,  only  a  few  days*  journey 
distant,  there  was  a  land  where  there  was  no  limit  to 
the  view,  where  each  human  being  seemed  absolutely 
free,  and  where  it  was  possible  to  travel  for  days  and 
days  without  seeing  a  single  person.  Always  inter- 
woven with  his  dreams  and  his  imaginings  about  this 
distant  country  was  the  memory  of  the  friend  Hugh, 
to  whom  he  was  so  deeply  attached.  It  hardly  seemed 
to  him  possible  to  go  anywhere  in  the  West,  except  in 
company  with  Hugh,  and  until  he  had  joined  him,  it 
never  seemed  as  if  his  journey  had  begun,  or  was 
really  going  to  be  made. 

All  through  the  day  the  boat  went  on,  turning  and 
twisting,  and  at  different  times  facing  all  points  of 
the  compass.  Sometimes  the  sun  would  be  shining 
on  the  port  side  of  the  boat,  a  little  later  on  the  star- 
board side,  then  it  would  be  ahead,  and  again  behind. 
Hugh  and  Jack  spent  their  time  chatting  on  the 
upper  deck  of  the  boat,  Hugh  smoking  vigorously,  to 
keep  off  the  mosquitoes,  while  Jack,  the  edges  of  his 
handkerchief  under  his  hat  and  tucked  inside  his  coat 
collar,  to  leeward  of  Hugh,  took  advantage  of  the 
constant  stream  of  smoke  that  poured  from  his  pipe. 
They  had  much  to  tell  each  other  of  the  winter  that 
had  passed,  and  much  to  say  of  the  trip  on  which 
they  were  now  starting.  Fort  Benton  was  their 
destination,  and  until  they  reached  there,  and  saw 
their   friend    Joe,  the    Blackfoot   Indian   who   was   to 


12  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

meet  them  with  the  horses,  they  were  uncertain  what 
they  should  do. 

There  were  not  a  few  passengers  on  the  boat. 
Some  of  them  were  carefully  dressed  persons,  wear- 
ing long  frock  coats,  white  shirts,  and  a  modest 
amount  of  jewelry,  residents  of  the  thriving  towns  of 
Helena  or  Virginia  City,  Montana;  others  were  army 
ofificers,  on  their  way  to  posts  in  the  Northwest,  or 
now  starting  out  on  some  exploring  expedition ; 
while  others  still  were  persons  of  whose  occupation 
and  destination  it  was  hard  to  judge  from  their 
appearance. 

Among  them  was  a  middle-aged  man  who  Jack 
thought,  from  his  conversation,  had  long  been  a  resi- 
dent of  the  plains,  and  who  told  Jack  something 
about  a  trade  that  he  had  long  practised  —  that  of 
wolfing. 

"  Why,  young  fellow,"  he  said,  "  it  is  only  a  few 
years  ago  since  there  was  good  money  in  wolfin',  but 
I  had  to  quit  it  down  in  the  southern  country  for 
wolves  got  too  scarce  when  the  buffalo  got  killed  off. 
Wherever  there  was  buffalo  there  was  plenty  of 
wolves,  for  the  wolves  made  their  livin'  off  the  herds, 
just  like  the  Indians  ;  and  when  I  say  wolves  I  mean 
big  wolves,  coyotes,  foxes,  and  swifts. 

"  In  the  autumn,  as  soon  as  the  fur  began  to  get 
good,  I  used  to  start  out  and  find  a  herd  of  buffalo, 
and  after  shootin'  two  or  three  of  them,  I'd  skin 
them  down,  and  rip  them  up,  and  put  from  one  to 
three  bottles  of  strychnine  in  each  carcass.  After 
the  blood  that  lay  in  the  ribs  had  been  poisoned 
good,  I'd  smear  that  over  the  meat  on   the  outside. 


THE  INDIANS  OF  FORT  BERTHOLD     13 

Generally  I'd  try  to  kill  my  buffalo  close  to  where  I 
was  goin'  to  camp,  and  after  I  had  put  out  my  baits  I 
went  to  camp  and  slept  until  near  day.  Then,  before 
I  could  see,  I'd  get  up,  cook  my  breakfast,  hitch  up, 
if  I  had  a  team,  and  go  round  to  all  my  baits. 
Likely,  around  each  one  I'd  find  my  half  dozen  to 
fifteen  wolves,  and  sometimes  it  would  take  me  two 
or  three  days  to  skin  them.  Likely  enough,  if  the 
weather  turned  right  cold,  I  got  a  good  many  more 
wolves  than  I  could  skin,  and  had  to  stack  them  up, 
and  wait  till  I  got  time.  It  was  mighty  hard  work 
now,  and  don't  you  forget  it.  Then,  too,  there  was 
always  a  chance  that  Indians  might  come  along  and 
make  trouble  for  me.  You  take  a  man  out  on  the 
prairie,  ten  years  ago,  and  even  the  friendly  Indians 
were  likely  to  scare  him  a  whole  lot,  or  take  his  hides, 
even  if  they  didn't  take  away  his  gun  and  his  horses. 
As  for  the  hostiles,  if  they  got  too  close  to  a  man  it 
was  all  up  with  him.  But  I  never  had  no  trouble 
with  them,  except  once,  and  then  I  was  camped  in 
the  dug-out,  with  plenty  of  provisions,  and  there 
was  only  three  of  the  Indians.  I  saw  them  comin', 
and  suspected  who  they  were,  and  managed  to  get 
my  horses  into  the  dug-out  with  me  and  stood  'em 
off.     They  scared  me  bad  though. 

"  I  should  think  so,"  said  Jack. 

The  man  stopped  talking  to  fill  his  pipe  and  after 
he  had  lighted  it  puffed  thoughtfully.  Then  he  con. 
tinued  :  "  There's  another  way  I've  wolfed  it,  and 
that  is  by  draggin'  a  bait  over  quite  a  scope  of 
country,  and  droppin'  pieces  of  poisoned  meat  along 
the  trail.     I    used    to  do    that    when   I    couldn't  find 


14  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

animals  to  kill  for  bait.  This  worked  pretty  well  for 
awhile  but  it's  no  good  any  more  down  in  that 
country." 

**  I've  seen  coyotes  killed  by  putting  poisoned  tallow 
in  auger  holes,  bored  in  chunks  of  wood,"  said  Jack. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  man,  "  that's  good  sometimes,  and 
they  stay  there  lickin'  and  lickin*  up  the  bait  until 
they  die  right  there.  You  don't  have  to  look  over 
much  country  to  find  your  wolves." 

"  What  kind  of  meat  did  you  use  when  you  were 
dragging  the  bait?  "  asked  Jack. 

"Most  any  kind  would  do,"  replied  the  wolfer ; 
"  sometimes  it  would  be  a  piece  of  buffalo  meat, 
sometimes  a  shoulder  of  a  deer,  but  the  best  bait  of 
all  is  a  beaver  carcass  ;  there's  lots  of  grease  and  lots 
of  smell  to  that,  and  the  wolves  and  coyotes  are  sure 
to  follow  it.  This  draggin'  a  trail  is  good  too,  be- 
cause the  wolves,  when  they  go  along  and  snap  up 
the  poisoned  bait,  don't  go  off,  but  keep  right  on  fol- 
lowin'  the  trail,  and  you  find  them  there,  maybe  quite 
a  long  way  from  where  they  pick  the  bait. 

"  Where  are  you  goin*,  young  fellow  ;  you  and  that 
old  man  I    see  you  talking  with?" 

"  We're  going  up  to  Benton,"  said  Jack,  "  and  I 
don't  know  where  we're  going  from  there.  I  expect 
we'll  meet  a  friend  there,  with  our  horses,  and  then 
we're  going  to  make  a  trip,  off  maybe  on  the  prairies, 
and  maybe  into  the  mountains  ;  we  can't  tell  yet." 

"  Sho,"  said  the  man,  "you're  sure  goin'  to  have  a 
good  time.  I've  got  to  get  a  job  when  I  get  to  Ben- 
ton;  somethin'  that'll  keep  me  until  it  comes  time  for 
fur  to  get  good." 


THE  INDIANS  OF  FORT  BERTHOLD     15 

The  next  morning  when  Jack  and  Hugh  left  their 
stateroom  a  heavy  fog  hung  low  over  the  river  and 
the  boat  was  not  moving,  but  was  tied  up  to  the  bank, 
for  it  was  so  thick  that  there  was  danger  of  running 
aground  on  the  frequent  sand-bars,  and  as  the  river 
was  now  falling,  the  captain  was  unwilling  to  take  the 
chance  of  such  delay.  On  the  lower  deck  was  a  dug- 
out canoe,  the  property  of  a  temporary  passenger, 
who  was  going  only  to  Fort  Berthold,  and,  after  break- 
fast. Jack  suggested  to  Hugh  that  they  should  borrow 
this  canoe  and  go  off  a  little  way  up  the  river,  taking 
their  guns,  and  seeing  whether  they  could  kill  any- 
thing. Hugh  said  this  could  not  be  done,  explaining 
that  it  would  be  easy  enough  to  get  lost,  which  would 
be  bad  for  them,  and  very  irritating  to  the  captain, 
who  might  feel  it  necessary  to  wait  for  tiiem  ;  and 
besides  this,  the  fog  might  lift  at  any  moment,  when 
the  boat  would  move  onward  much  faster  than  they 
could  paddle.  As  it  happened,  the  fog  lifted  almost 
immediately,  and  the  boat  set  forward  ;  and  a  little 
before  noon  the  village  of  the  Rees,  Gros  Ventres 
and  Mandans,  high  up  on  the  bluff  above  the  river, 
was  seen  ;  and  soon  after  the  boat  tied  up,  and  all 
hands  went  ashore. 

The  bluff  rose  steeply  from  the  river,  and  up  and 
down  its  face  were  steep  trails,  worn  by  the  feet  of 
women  passing  up  and  down  as  they  carried  water 
and  the  driftwood  which  they  gathered,  up  to  the 
village.  On  the  top  of  the  bluff  stood  the  beehive 
shaped  gray  houses,  which  Hugh  told  Jack  were 
much  like  tliose  occupied  by  the  Pawnees. 

They  began  to  climb  the   bluff  toward   the  village, 


l6  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

and  Jack  asked  Hugh  about  the  Indians  who  lived 
here. 

"In  old  times,"  said  Hugh,  "these  Indians  were 
scattered  out  up  and  down  the  river.  The  Gros  Ven- 
tres lived  furthest  up,  between  here  and  Buford,  and 
the  Rees  and  Mandans  lived  further  down  the  stream. 
A  long  time  ago,  —  back  maybe  more  than  a  hun- 
dred years,  —  the  Rees  and  the  Mandans  all  lived  to- 
gether, away  down  below  here;  but  then  they  had 
some  sort  of  a  quarrel  among  themselves,  and  the 
Mandans  moved  on  up  the  stream,  and  for  a  long 
time  camped  near  the  mouth  of  the  Knife  River. 
For  a  while  after  that  there  was  some  fighting  be- 
tween the  Rees  and  Mandans,  but  after  a  time  they 
made  peace,  and  gradually  the  tribes  came  together 
again  ;  and  now  for  a  long  time  they've  all  lived  to- 
gether in  this  village  of  Berthold.  In  old  times  each 
of  these  villages  was  a  big  one,  but  since  the  white 
men  came  among  them,  and  brought  smallpox,  and 
liquor,  and  all  the  other  things  that  the  white  men 
bring,  they  are  dying  off  fast,  and  I  don't  believe  that 
now  there  is  more  than  eight  or  nine  hundred  of 
these  Indians  all  together.  You  know  these  Rees 
here  are  kind  of  kin  to  the  Pawnees;  tliey  speak  near 
the  same  language,  so  that  I  can  talk  with  'em,  and 
they  call  the  Pawnees  their  relations.  I  think  they 
used  to  be  a  part  of  the  Skidi  band.  Nobody  knows 
just  when  they  separated  from  the  Pawnees,  but  it 
must  have  been  a  good  while  ago." 

Hugh  paused,  and  Jack  asked  :  "  Does  any  one 
know  how  they  came  to  separate,  Hugh  ?  Is  there 
any  tradition  about  it  ?  " 


THE  INDIANS  OF  FORT  BERTHOLD     \f 

"Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "there  is.  The  old  story  is 
that  all  the  Pawnees  were  out  hunting,  and  the  Sioux 
got  around  some  of  'em,  and  cut  'em  off  from  the  rest 
and  kept  fighting  'em,  and  driving  'em,  and  fighting 
and  driving,  until  they  got  'em  away  up  on  the  Mis- 
souri River,  so  far  from  their  friends  that  they  had  to 
winter  there.  Then,  along  back,  maybe  about  1830, 
soon  after  the  beginning  of  the  fur  trade  on  the 
upper  river,  the  Rees  fought  the  white  folks,  and  were 
generally  hostile.  After  that  they  went  back  and 
joined  the  Pawnees,  but  they  could  n't  get  along  well 
with  the  Pawnees,  and  quarreled  with  them,  and 
finally  the  Pawnees  drove  'em  off.  So  they  came  on 
back  up  the  river.  It  was  after  that  that  they  joined 
the  Mandans,  and  they've  lived  together  ever  since." 

By  this  time  they  had  reached  the  top  of  the  bluffy 
and  were  now  close  to  the  houses,  on  whose  curious 
domed  roofs  many  people  were  sitting, —  women  busy 
with  their  work,  young  men  wrapped  in  their  robes, 
and  looking  off  into  the  distance,  and  little  girls  play- 
ing with  their  dolls  or  their  puppies.  The  ground  in 
the  village  all  about  the  houses  was  worn  bare  by  the 
passage  of  many  feet;  Indians  were  going  to  and  fro, 
women  carrying  water  and  wood,  men  naked,  or 
wrapped  in  their  summer  sheets,  little  boys  chasing 
each  other,  or,  with  their  ropes  trying  to  snare  the 
dogs,  which  were  usually  too  cunning  for  them. 

Jack  was  greatly  interested  in  the  houses,  and 
wished  to  look  into  one,  and  to  this  Hugh  said  there 
would  be  no  objection.  The  entrance  of  each  house 
was  by  a  long  passage-way,  closed  above,  and  at  the 
sides,  and    passing    through    this,  they    found    them- 


i8  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

selves  at  the  door.  Jack  expected  to  go  into  a  room 
that  was  dark  ;  but  this  was  not  so.  Above  the 
center  of  the  large  room  was  a  wide  open  space, 
which  answered  both  for  chimney  and  for  window. 
About  the  fireplace,  which  was  under  the  smoke  hole, 
at  the  corners  of  a  square,  stood  four  stout  posts, 
reaching  up  to  and  supporting  the  rafters  of  the 
roof.  The  floor  of  the  house  was  swept  clean,  and  all 
around  the  walls  were  raised  platforms,  serving  for 
beds,  and  separated  by  screens  of  straight  willow 
sticks  strung  on  sinew,  from  the  adjacent  bed  on 
either  side.  In  front  of  some  of  the  beds  similar 
screens  hung  down  like  curtains  so  that  the  bed  could 
be  cut  off  from  the  observation  of  those  in  the  house. 
Over  the  fireplace  hung  a  pot,  and  two  pleasant-faced 
women  were  sitting  near  it,  sewing  moccasins.  They 
looked  up  pleasantly,  as  the  strangers  stood  in  the 
doorway,  and  Hugh  spoke  a  few  words  to  them,  to 
which  they  made  some  answer.  Then  the  strangers 
withdrew. 

Keeping  on  through  the  village,  they  walked  out 
on  the  higher  prairie,  toward  the  tribal  burying- 
ground,  but  not  such  a  burying-ground  as  Jack  was 
accustomed  to  see.  Here  were  placed  the  dead, 
wrapped  up  in  bundles,  on  platforms  raised  on  four 
poles,  eight  or  ten  feet  above  the  ground.  Evidently 
no  attention  was  paid  to  them  after  burial,  for  many 
of  the  poles  which  supported  the  platforms  had  rot- 
ted and  fallen  down,  and,  in  the  older  part  of  the 
graveyard  the  ground  was  strewn  with  pieces  of  old 
robes  and  clothing,  and  with  white  bones. 

Hugh  told   Jack   that  farther  away,  and   down   oi» 


THE  INDIANS  OF  FORT  BERTHOLD     19 

tower  ground,  where  the  soil  was  moist,  the  Rees, 
Mandans,  and  Gros  Ventres  had  farms,  where  they 
raised  corn,  beans,  pumpkins,  and  squashes,  and  that 
in  old  times  they  used  to  raise  tobacco. 

It  was  now  time  to  return  to  the  boat,  for  the  wait 
was  to  be  only  a  short  one,  and  on  their  way  back  he 
told  of  something  that  had  happened  not  many  years 
before  in  the  Mandan  village. 

"The  people  were  hungry,"  said  Hugh,  "and  there 
was  no  food  in  camp.  They  sent  young  men  off  in 
all  directions  to  look  for  buffalo,  but  none  could  be 
found.  As  the  people  grew  hungrier  and  hungrier 
the  White  Cow  Society  made  up  their  minds  that 
they  would  give  a  dance,  and  try  to  bring  tlie  buffalo. 
They  did  this,  and  danced  for  a  long  time;  but  no 
buffalo  were  found,  and  there  were  no  signs  that  any 
were  coming.  Still  the  people  of  the  White  Cow 
Society  danced,  and  still  the  other  people  watched 
them,  and  prayed  that  they  might  bring  the  buffalo. 
One  day,  after  they'd  danced  for  ten  days,  suddenly 
a  big  noise  was  heard  in  the  village,  and  when  the 
people  rushed  out  of  the  lodges  to  see  what  was  hap- 
pening, there,  among  the  lodges,  was  a  big  buffalo 
bull,  charging  about  right  close  to  the  lodge  in  which 
the  White  Cow  Society  were  dancing.  All  the  dogs 
in  the  village  seemed  to  be  about  him,  barking  at  his 
head,  and  biting  at  his  heels,  and  he  was  trying  only 
to  get  away,  and  paying  no  attention  to  the  Indians 
that  were  all  about  him. 

"  Then  everybody  was  glad,  for  all  could  see  that 
the  Master  of  Life  had  sent  this  bull,  to  answer  their 
prayers;  and  all  believed  that  he  had  come  ahead  of 


20  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

the  main  herd,  which  would  soon  follow  him.  Before 
he  had  got  out  of  the  village,  the  bull  was  shot.  The 
White  Cow  Society  came  out  of  their  lodge,  and 
danced  around  the  village,  and  while  they  were  doin* 
this,  one  of  the  scouts  came  in,  and  reported  that  a 
big  band  of  cows  was  not  far  off.  Then  everybody 
was  glad,  and  all  wondered  at  the  strong  medicine  of 
ithe  White  Cow  Society.  The  next  day  the  men  went 
out  and  made  a  surround,  and  killed  plenty  of  cows, 
and  brought  in  the  meat,  and  there  came  a  terrible 
storm,  and  when  the  storm  cleared  off  the  whole 
prairie,  beyond  the  ridge  near  Knife  River,  was  black 
with  buffalo.  Now  there  was  plenty  in  the  camp,  and 
every  one  was  happy.  The  men  went  out  and 
brought  in  fat  meat,  and  it  was  dried,  and  no  more 
that  winter  was  there  any  suffering  for  food." 

"That's  a  good  story,  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "but  do 
you  suppose  the  dancing  of  the  White  Cow  Society 
really  brought  the  buffalo?" 

"  I  couldn't  tell  you,  son.  The  Indians  believed  it 
did,  but  I  don't  suppose  any  white  folks  would.  But 
I've  seen  so  many  queer  things  follow  these  medicine 
performances  that  I  don't  know  what  to  think  about 
them,  myself." 

By  this  time  they  had  reached  the  shore,  and  look- 
ing around,  as  they  passed  over  the  gang-plank  to 
the  deck,  they  saw  the  captain  and  purser  coming 
down  the  trail  just  behind  them.  The  deck  hands 
were  already  beginning  to  cast  off  the  fasts,  and  a 
moment  later  the  whistle  sounded,  the  boat's  nose 
turned  out  into  the  river,  and  the  steady  thump, 
thump  of  the  paddle-wheel  began  again.    On  the  bank 


THE  INDIANS  OF  FORT  BERTHOLD     2i 

stood  the  three  or  four  white  men  belonging  to  the 
agency,  and  up  and  down  the  bottom,  and  clustered 
in  little  groups  on  the  bluffs,  were  Indians,  dressed 
in  buckskin,  or  in  bright-colored  cloth,  who  stood 
motionless,  watching  the  steamer  as  she  slowly  moved 
away. 

"That's  a  mighty  interesting  place,  Hugh;  and  I 
want  to  get  you  to  tell  me  all  about  it.  Who  are  the 
Gros  Ventres,  and  who  are  the  Mandans  ?  You've 
told  me  about  the  Rees,  but  I  want  to  know  about 
the  others." 

"  Weil,  son,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  don't  know  as  I  can 
tell  you  very  much  about  them,  but  I'll  try.  The 
Gros  Ventres  are  close  relations  to  the  Crows ;  in  fact, 
many  people  call  them  the  River  Crows,  to  distin- 
guish  them  from  the  real  Crows,  that  live  up  close  to 
the  mountains,  on  the  head  of  the  Yellowstone. 
Those  fellows  are  called  the  Mountain  Crows,  and 
there's  a  good  many  more  of  them  than  there  are  of 
these.  These  people,  I  suppose,  got  their  name,  Gros 
Ventres,  from  the  French,  and  I  never  heard  why  it 
was  given  to  'em.  I  never  could  see  that  they  were 
any  fatter,  or  had  any  bigger  bellies,  than  other 
Indians,  and  I  never  found  out  any  reason  for  the 
name.  They  don't  call  themselves  by  any  such  name 
as  that;  their  name  for  themselves  is  Hi  ddt  sa,  a.nA 
that's  said  to  mean,  willows.  Anyhow,  they  used  to 
be  called  Willow  Indians;  so  I  have  been  told. 

"  In  old  times,  they  say  that  there  were  three  tribes 
of  them,  but  the  other  tribes  have  been  lost,  or  for- 
gotten, and  now  they're  all  together  —  all  one  bunch 
of  Indians.    There's  one  thing  you  want  to  remember, 


22  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

that  there  are  two  different  outfits  of  Indians,  both 
called  Gros  Ventres ;  one  of  them,  these  people  here, 
whom  we  know  as  the  Gros  Ventres  of  the  Village,  or 
Gros  Ventres  of  the  Missouri;  the  others  are  the 
Gros  Ventres  of  the  Prairie,  whose  country  is  east  of 
the  Blackfoot  country,  and  who  used  to  be  friendly 
with  the  Blackfeet,  and  then  fought  them  for  a  long 
time,  and  now  are  friendly  again.  Those  Gros 
Ventres  of  the  Prairie  are  no  kin  at  all  to  these  peo- 
ple, but  are  a  part  of  the  Arapahoes,  from  whom, 
according  to  the  old  story,  they  split  off  a  long,  long 
time  ago.  They  talk  the  Arapahoe  language,  and 
call  the  Arapahoes  their  own  people,  and  still  visit 
them  back  and  forth.  Nowadays  they  have  an 
agency  along  with  the  Assinaboines,  further  west,  at 
Fort  Belknap,  over  on  Milk  River.  Ninety-nine  men 
out  of  every  hundred  get  these  Arapahoes  and  these 
River  Crows  mixed  up,  just  for  the  reason  that  the 
French  called  them  both  Gros  Ventres.  Don't  you 
ever  do  that,  because  when  a  man  makes  that  mis- 
take it  shows  that  he  don't  know  nothing  about 
Indians.     Try  to  remember  that,  will  you?" 

♦'Of  course  I  will,  Hugh.  I  don't  want  to  make 
any  mistakes,  especially  now  since  I  have  been  out 
and  seen  something  of  real  Indians.  People  back 
East,  and  especially  all  the  fellows  at  school,  think 
that  I  know  everything  about  Indians  now.  They're 
all  the  time  asking  me  questions  about  them ,  who 
they  are,  and  where  they  live,  and  I  should  hate  to 
make  any  mistakes  in  my  answers.  Now  tell  me, 
who  are  the  Mandans?" 

•'  I  don't  know  as  much  about  the  Mandans  as  I  do 


THE  INDIANS  OF  FORT  BERTHOLD     23 

about  the  Gros  Ventres  of  the  Village,"  said  Hugh, 
"and  yet  I've  heard  a  lot  about  them.  They're  a  kind 
of  queer  people ;  lots  of  'em  used  to  have  yellow  hair 
and  gray  eyes,  and  lots  of  'em  now  have  gray-haired 
children,  same  as  you  have  seen  among  the  Blackfeet. 
I  got  hold  of  a  book  once  with  lots  of  pictures  of 
Indians  in  it;  mighty  good  pictures,  too,  they  were. 
'T  was  written  by  a  man  named  Catlin,  who  came  up 
the  river,  painting  pictures  of  Indians,  a  long  time 
ago;  maybe  fifty  years.  He  said  he  thought  the 
Mandans  were  Welshmen,  and  told  some  story  about 
some  foreign  prince  that  brought  a  colony  of  Welsh- 
men over  here,  and  Catlin  thought  that  maybe  the 
Mandans  were  descended  from  that  colony.  Anyhow 
they've  lived  by  themselves,  so  the  story  goes,  for 
a  great  many  years  ;  but  I've  heard  the  old  men  say 
that  long,  long  ago  the  tribe  came  from  away  back 
East  somewhere.  They  followed  down  a  big  river 
that  ran  from  east  to  west,  likely  it  may  have  been 
the  Ohio  River,  until  they  came  to  the  Mississippi, 
and  then  they  struck  ofT  northwest,  and  camped  on 
the  Missouri,  and  they  have  been  traveling  up  the 
Missouri,  a  little  way  at  a  time,  for  an  almighty  sight 
o'  years. 

"  This  book  of  Catlin's  that  I  tell  you  about  has 
got  a  whole  lot  o'  stufT  about  the  Mandans,  and  it  is 
mighty  good  readin'.  You  had  better  get  hold  of  it 
sometime  when  you  get  back  East ;  it'll  tell  you  more 
about  'em  than  I  can.  The  Mandans  have  always 
been  tarmers,  and  raised  good  crops  of  corn,  and  that 
and  their  buffalo  give  them  a  pretty  good  living. 
But    now    the    bufTalo    are    getting  scarce,  and  when 


24  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

they  give  out  the  Mandans  will  have  to  live  on 
straight  corn,  I  am  afraid.  There's  one  thing  about 
the  Mandans  that's  worth  rememberin',  they  make  the 
best  pots  of  any  people  that  I  know  of  on  the  plains. 
I  expect  that  in  old  times  maybe  the  Pawnees  made 
just  as  good  pots,  but  since  the  white  folks  began  to 
bring  brass  and  copper  kettles  into  the  country  the 
Pawnees  have  forgotten  how  to  make  pots  ;  but  the 
Mandans  still   keep  it  up,  and    make  some  pots,  big 

and  little " 

"  Oh,  Hugh  !  "  called  Jack  at  this  moment,  "  Look 
at  the  buffalo!"  and  he  pointed  toward  the  high 
bluffs  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  and  there  were 
three  dark  spots,  running  as  hard  as  they  could  up  the 

hill. 

"  Sure  enough,"  said  Hugh,  "  there's  the  first 
buffalo  we've  seen.  Don't  they  look  like  three  rats 
scuttling  off  over  the  hills,  as  fast  as  they  can  go. 
Before  long,  now,  we  ought  to  see  plenty  of  'em 
along  the  river;  though  we  ain't  likely  to  see  many 
bufTalo  before  we  get  above  Buford," 

The  boat  pushed  slowly  up  the  river's  muddy  cur- 
rent,  and  Hugh  and  Jack  continued  to  talk  about  the 
Indian  village  on  the  hill. 

"A  mighty  queer  thing  happened  once  at  that 
village,  son,"  said  Hugh.  You've  heard,  maybe,  that 
in  some  tribes  of  Indians  they  have  sort  of  prophets, 
or  men  that  foretell  things  that  are  going  to  happen. 
I  have  seen  a  little  of  that  sort  of  thing  myself,  that  I 
never  could  explain.  Besides  that,  they've  got  some 
way  of  learning  news  that  we  don't  understand  any- 
thing about.     Of   course   it  may  not  be  as  quick  as 


THE  INDIANS  OF  FORT  BERTHOLD     25 

railroads  and  telegraphs,  but  its  quick.  Let  me  tell 
you  something  that  happened  there  at  Berthold,  some 
years  ago,  and  the  man  that  it  happened  to  lives 
in  the  upper  country  now,  and  you  may  likely  run 
across  him  some  time  when  you  are  up  there.  He  is 
a  Dutchman,  and  his  name  is  Joe  Butch, 

"  Along  in  1868,  Joe  was  working  at  Berthold,  for  a 
trader  there,  and  the  trader  got  into  some  sort  of  a 
quarrel  about  a  horse  with  old  White  Cow,  chief  of 
the  Mandans,  and  I  guess  old  White  Cow  was  pretty 
sassy,  and  maybe  he  threatened  to  do  something,  and 
Joe  killed  him.  Well,  as  soon  as  he  had  killed  the 
old  man,  Joe  he  knew  that  that  wasn't  no  place  for 
him,  because  the  Mandans  would  be  pretty  sure  to  kill 
him  ;  so  he  hops  onto  his  horse,  and  rides  as  hard  as 
he  could  for  Buford,  that's  eighty  miles  up  the  river, 
next  place  we  stop  at.  When  he  got  to  Buford  he 
found  there  a  big  camp  of  Assinaboines,  and  they 
were  having  a  big  dance,  because  the  chief  of  the 
Mandans,  their  enemies,  had  just  been  killed.  Now, 
how  do  you  suppose  those  Assinaboines  knew  that 
White  Cow  had  been  killed  ?  Joe  did  n't  waste  no 
time  getting  onto  his  horse,  and  he  rode  as  hard  as 
he  could  to  Buford  ;  and  its  a  sure  thing  that  nobody 
got  there  before  him  with  the  news.  I  never  under- 
stood how  they  found  that  out,  and  I  never  expect 
to." 

"That  seems  a  wonderful  thing,  Hugh,"  said  Jack. 
"  I  don't  see  how  they  could  have  found  it  out  if 
nobody  told  them,  and  if  there  were  no  telegraphs." 

"Well,  it's  sure  there  were  no  telegraphs,"  said 
Hugh,   "  and   I    don't   see   how   anybody  could    have 


26  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

told  them.  Joe  killed  the  man,  and  started  on  his 
ride  right  off,  and  had  a  good  horse.  That's  one  of 
the  things  that  always  beat  me." 

The  hours  passed  swiftly  by  for  Jack  and  Hugh,  as 
they  watched  the  river  banks  on  either  side.  The 
boat  had  met  a  flood  of  water  just  above  Berthold, 
vv'hich,  if  it  made  progress  against  the  strong  current 
more  slow,  nevertheless  saved  time  by  deepening  the 
water,  so  that  they  did  not  run  aground  on  sand-bars. 
Several  times  during  the  morning,  antelope  were  seen 
feeding  in  the  bottom,  lifting  their  heads  to  gaze  at 
the  boat,  as  it  puffed  and  snorted  along,  but  not 
being  enough  alarmed  to  take  to  flight.  After  supper 
that  night,  as  they  sat  on  the  deck  about  sundown, 
Hugh,  watching  the  banks,  pointed  out  no  less  than 
three  distant  spots  on  the  wide  bottom,  which  he 
told  Jack  were  bears  digging  roots.  They  were  a 
long  way  off,  yet  with  his  glasses  Jack  was  able  to 
make  out  their  forms,  and  to  recognize  them  as  bears. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   BATTLE   OF   THE   MUSSELSHELL 

Early  next  morning  the  boat  stopped  at  Fort 
Buford,  above  the  mouth  of    the  Yellowstone  River. 

The  wait  was  to  be  only  a  short  one,  and  no  one 
left  the  boat.  Jack  was  interested  in  looking  from 
the  upper  deck  at  the  post,  where  there  were  a 
number  of  soldiers,  and  it  looked  like  a  busy  place. 
Away  to  the  left  was  seen  the  broad  current  of  the 
Yellowstone  coming  down  between  timbered  banks. 
As  the  two  friends  sat  on  the  upper  deck  and  looked 
off  toward  the  shore,  Hugh,  in  response  to  some 
question  by  Jack,  said  : 

"Yes,  in  old  fur-trading  days  this  used  to  be  a 
mighty  interesting  place.  Just  above  here  was  one  of 
the  great  trading  posts  of  old  times,  and  pretty  much 
all  the  tribes  of  the  northern  prairie  used  to  come 
here  to  get  their  ammunition,  and  whatever  other 
stuff  they  could  buy.  Old  man  Culbertson  was  here 
for  a  long  time,  and  lots  of  people  from  back  east  and 
from  foreign  parts  used  to  come  up  the  river  as  far  as 
this.  Sometimes  they  used  to  have  great  fights  out 
here  on  this  flat,  when  two  hostile  tribes  would  come 
in  to  trade  and  would  get  here  at  the  same  time. 
I've  heard  great  stories  about  the  way  the  Indians 
used  to  fight  here  among  themselves  almost  under 
the  walls  of  the  post;  and,  then,  again,  sometimes  the 


28  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

Indians  used  to  crawl  up  as  near  to  the  fort  as  they 
could,  and  try  to  run  off  the  horse  herd,  which  would 
be  feeding  right  out  in  front  of  the  post.  Sometimes 
they'd  get  'em  ;  sometimes  they  would  n't,  but  would 
get  one  of  the  herders.  On  the  whole,  however,  the 
place  wasn't  often  attacked,  because  the  Indians 
could  n't  afford  to  quarrel  with  the  people  who  fur- 
nished them  with  their  goods.  When  'twas  Fort 
Union,  'twas  a  mighty  lively  place." 

"Why  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "do  you  mean  to  tell  me 
that  this  is  old  Fort  Union?" 

"  Sure,"  said  Hugh. 

"Why/'  said  Jack,  "I've  read  lots  about  Fort 
Union.  Don't  you  know  that  in  1843  Audubon,  the 
naturalist,  and  a  party  of  his  friends,  came  up  here  to 
find  out  a  lot  about  the  Western  birds  and  animals? 
I've  read  a  lot  of  Audubon,  and  he  speaks  constantly 
of  Fort  Union,  and  about  the  things  he  used  to  see 
here,  and  the  buffalo  hunting,  and  about  Mr.  Culbert- 
son.  Dear  me!  dear  me!  when  I  was  reading  about 
it  I  never  thought  that  I  would  see  Fort  Union." 

Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  this  is  the  place;  and  if  this 
man  Audubon  was  out  here  in  1843,  that,  I  think,  was 
just  the  year  before  they  had  the  big  smallpox  here. 
Men  that  were  here  at  the  time  tell  me  that  there 
were  two  or  three  big  camps  of  Indians  here,  and  that 
they  got  the  smallpox  in  the  fall,  just  before  the 
ground  froze,  and  the  Indians  died  off  like  wolves 
about  a  poisoned  carcass  ;  and  the  ground  was  hard, 
and  they  could  not  dig  graves  for  them,  and  they  just 
stacked  up  the  bodies  outside  of  the  fort,  in  rows,  like 
so  much  cord-wood,  and  had  to  wait  till  the  ground 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MUSSELSHELL     29 

melted  in  the  spring  before  they  could  bury  'em. 
There  must  have  been  a  pile  of  Indians  died.  " 

"Well,  what  did  they  do  for  smallpox,  Hugh? 
How  did  they  cure  themselves?  " 

"  Why,  they  didn't  know  anything  about  curing 
themselves,  son.  When  a  man  got  smallpox,  or  got 
sick,  he  just  went  into  a  sweat-lodge,  and  took  a 
sweat,  and  came  out  and  plunged  into  the  river  to 
cool  off,  and  the  ice  was  running,  and  some  of  'em 
never  came  up  again,  and  some  of  those  that  did 
come  up  were  so  weak  from  the  shock  that  they  could 
not  get  to  the  shore,  and  just  drowned.  If  we  get  to 
the  Blackfoot  camp  this  summer,  you  ask  old  man 
Chouquette  about  it.  He  was  here  then  ;  he'll  tell 
you  about  it,  just  the  same  as  he  told  me." 

While  Hugh  had  been  talking,  the  boat  had  cast 
off  and  had  once  more  started  up  the  river. 

It  was  afternoon,  and  Hugh  was  dozing  in  his  chair, 
tilted  up  against  the  cabin,  while  Jack  as  usual  was 
watching  the  river  banks,  when  suddenly  from  behind 
a  little  hill  that  formed  the  end  of  a  hog  back,  which 
extended  well  out  into  the  bottom,  he  saw  a  herd  of 
seventy  or  eighty  buffalo,  come  running  as  hard  as 
they  could  across  the  bottom,  and  plunge  into  the 
river  just  above  the  boat.  The  great  animals  ran  as 
if  frightened,  and  seemed  to  regard  nothing  but  the 
danger  behind  them.  As  the  boat  went  along,  and 
the  buffalo  swam  to  cross  the  stream,  they  came 
nearer  and  nearer  together,  and  at  last  it  was  evident 
that  the  buffalo  would  pass  very  close  to  the  boat. 
They  swam  rapidly,  and  with  them  were  many  little 
calves,  swimming  on  the  down  stream  side  of    their 


30  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

mothers,  and  going  swiftly  and  easily.  Jack  shouted 
to  Hugh,  who,  with  him,  watched  the  buffalo,  and  in 
a  very  few  minutes  the  boat  was  actually  in  the  midst 
of  the  herd.  The  animals  did  not  attempt  to  turn 
about,  but  swam  steadily  after  their  leaders,  and 
some  of  them  actually  swam  against  the  boat,  and, 
only  then  seeming  to  understand  their  danger,  turned 
about  and,  grunting,  snorting,  and  bellowing,  climbed 
up  on  each  other  in  tremendous  fright.  As  they 
came  to  the  boat  Jack  at  first  had  started  to  get  his 
rifle,  but  Hugh  called  him  back,  and  they  both  de- 
scended to  the  lower  deck,  where,  with  the  other  pas- 
sengers, and  the  deck  hands,  they  were  actually  within 
arms  length  of  the  buffalos.  The  mate,  forming  a 
noose  with  a  rope,  threw  it  over  the  head  of  a  two- 
year-old,  and  half  a  dozen  of  the  roustabouts,  pulling 
on  the  rope,  lifted  the  animal's  head  up  on  the  deck, 
when  the  mate  killed  it,  and  it  was  presently  hauled 
aboard  and  butchered.  As  they  returned  to  the 
upper  deck,  having  watched  the  buffalo,  after  the 
boat  had  passed,  swim  to  the  other  bank  and  climb 
out  of  the  water,  and  then  stop  and  look  at  the  boat, 
Jack  said  to  Hugh,  "Well,  I  saw  a  lot  of  buffalo  last 
year,  but  it  sort  of  excites  one  to  see  them  again  as 
close  as  those  were.  " 

"Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "that's  so;  but  there  was  no 
use  in  your  getting  your  gun,  as  you  started  to.  I 
don't  want  you  to  act  like  all  the  rest  of  these  pil- 
grims that  come  up  the  river,  and  to  be  shooting  at 
everything  you  see  that's  alive.  There'd  have  been 
no  more  fun  in  shooting  one  of  those  buffalo  in  the 
water  there,  than  there'd  be  in  shooting  a  cow  on  the 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MUSSELSHELL     31 

range.  Of  course,  if  a  man's  hungry,  it's  well  enough 
for  him  to  butcher;  but  if  he  just  wants  meat,  and 
there's  somebody  else  to  do  the  butchering,  he  might 
just  as  well  let  him  do  it.  I  always  used  to  like  to 
hunt,  and  I  do  still,  but  it's  no  fun  for  me  to  kill  a  calf 
in  a  pen,  or  to  chop  ofT  a  chicken's  head. 

"That's  so,  Hugh,"  said  Jack;  "  it  would  have  been 
no  more  to  shoot  one  of  those  bufTalos  in  the  water 
than  it  was  for  the  mate  to  kill  that  two-year-old." 

"That's  so,"  said  Hugh;  "it  would  have  been  just 
the  same  thing,  and  you  don't  envy  him  the  work  he 
did,  I  expect." 

"  No  indeed,"  said  Jack,  "  not  much." 

"  Now,  if  you  want  to  fire  a  few  shots,"  said  Hugh, 
"if  you  want  a  little  practice  with  your  gun,  get  it 
out  the  next  time  we  get  close  to  the  bank,  and  shoot 
at  a  knot  in  some  cottonwood  tree.  I  can  watch  with 
the  glasses  and  see  where  you  hit,  and  you  can  get 
some  practice  with  your  rifle,  but  won't  show  up  a 
tenderfoot." 

The  sun  was  low  that  evening  when  they  reached 
Wolf  Point,  the  agency  for  the  Assinaboine  Indians, 
and  it  seemed  as  if  all  the  Indians  there  must  have 
clustered  about  the  landing-place  to  welcome  the 
boat ;  men,  clad  in  fringed  buckskin  shirts  and  leg- 
gings, and  with  eagle  feathers  in  their  hair;  bright- 
shawled  women,  carrying  babies  on  their  backs  ;  small 
boys,  naked,  save  for  a  pair  of  leggings  and  a  breech- 
clout  ;  and  little  girls,  some  wearing  handsome  buck- 
skin dresses,  trimmed  with  elk-teeth,  and  clinging  to 
their  mothers'  skirts,  made  up  the  assemblage.  Most 
interesting  to  Jack  were  the  many  travois,  each  one 


32  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

drawn  by  a  dog.  Some  of  these  were  very  wolf-like 
in  appearance  ;  others  might  have  been  big  watch 
dogs  taken  from  the  front  door  yard  of  some  east- 
ern farm  house.  All  seemed  well-trained  and  pa- 
tient ;  and  when,  a  little  latter,  some  of  them  started 
off  for  the  agency  buildings,  dragging  loads  that  had 
been  piled  on  the  travois,  they  bent  sturdily  to  their 
work,  and  dug  their  feet  into  the  ground. 

"There's  something,  son,"  said  Hugh,  "that  we  are 
not  going  to  see  much  longer.  The  dog  travois  has 
seen  its  best  days,  and  before  long  dogs  won't  be 
used  any  more  for  that  work.  Why,  I  hear  that  even 
up  in  the  North,  dogs  are  not  used  in  winter  for 
hauling  half  as  much  as  they  used  to  be  ;  and  down 
here,  the  first  thing  you  know,  all  these  Indians  will 
be  having  wagons,  and  driving  them  'round  over  the 
prairie.  Why,  do  you  know,  it  ain't  so  very  long  ago 
since  these  Assinaboines  had  hardly  any  horses. 
They  didn't  want  'em  ;  they  said  horses  were  only  a 
nuisance  and  a  bother  to  'em,  and  their  dogs  were 
better.  Horses  had  to  be  looked  after;  driven  in  and 
caught  up  whenever  they  were  to  be  used,  and  then 
they  had  to  be  watched  to  keep  people  from  stealing 
them  ;  but  dogs,  instead  of  running  away  when  you 
wanted  to  catch  them,  would  come  running  toward 
you ;  they  never  ran  ofT  nor  were  stolen.  Now-a- 
days,  though,  the  Assinaboines  have  got  quite  a  good 
many  horses,  and  I  expect  to  live  long  enough  to 
see  the  time  when  dog  travois  will  be  a  regular  curi- 
osity." 

"  Who  are  the  Assinaboines,  Hugh,"  sai(/'  Jack. 
"What  tribe  are  they  related  to?" 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MUSSELSHELL     33 

"They're  Sioux,"  said  Hugh,  "and  talk  the  Sioux 
language.  Of  course  it's  a  little  different  from  that 
talked  by  the  Ogallalas  and  the  down  river  Sioux; 
but  still  they  can  all  understand  each  other,  and  they 
call  themselves  Lacotah,  which  of  course  you  know  is 
the  name  that  all  the  Sioux  have  for  themselves." 

"And  yet,"  he  continued,  "they  have  been  at  war 
with  the  Sioux  and  with  the  Sioux'  friends  for  a  good 
many  years.  1  reckon  there  ain't  any  one  that  nghtly 
knows  when  the  Assinaboines  split  off  from  the  main 
stock  ;  it  must  have  been  a  long  time  ago.  But  you 
talk  with  the  Assinaboines,  and  they'll  tell  you  — 
just  as  most  of  the  other  Sioux  '11  tell  you  — about  a 
time  long  ago,  in  the  lives  of  their  fore-fathers,  when 
their  people  lived  at  the  edge  of  the  salt  water.  I 
expect  maybe  that  means  that  they  migrated  a  long 
way,  either  from  the  East  or  from  the  West,  very  far 
back." 

"My!  "said  Jack,  "if  we  could  only  know  about 
all  these  things  that  happened,  and  what  the  history 
of  each  tribe  was,  wouldn't  it  be  interesting?  " 

"  It  sure  would,"  said  Hugh. 

"Well,  Hugh,"  continued  Jack,  "what  does  Assina- 
boine  mean  ?  Has  it  any  real  meaning,  like  some  of 
these  other  names  of  Indian  tribes  that  you  tell  me 
about  ?" 

"Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "  it  has  a  meaning,  and  I  reckon 
it's  a  Cree  word.  Assine  means  stone  in  Cree,  pott 
means  cooked,  or  cooking,  and  the  Assinaboines  are 
called  stone-cookers,  or  stone-roasters,  I  suppose  be- 
cause they  used  to  do  their  cooking  with  hot  stones. 
But  of  course  that  don't  mean  much,  because  pretty 


34  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

nearly  all  the  Indians  that  I  know  of  used  to  boil 
their  meat  with  hot  rocks,  except  those  that  made 
pots  and  kettles  for  themselves  out  of  clay.  Nobody 
knows,  I  reckon,  when  the  Pawnees  and  Mandans 
first  learned  how  to  make  pots.  I  expect  that  was  a 
long  time  ago,  too.  But  most  of  these  Indians  used 
to  boil  meat  in  a  kettle  made  of  hide,  or  the  paunch 
of  a  buffalo,  filled  with  water.  Then  they'd  heat 
stones  in  the  fire,  and  put  them  in  the  water,  taking 
them  out  as  they  got  cool  and  putting  in  others,  until 
the  water  boiled  and  the  food  was  cooked." 

"  But,"  said  Jack,  "  I  should  think  when  they 
cooked  the  hide  or  paunch  it  would  break,  and  let  the 
water  spill  out." 

"  No,"  said  Hugh.  "  It  would  of  course,  if  you  kept 
cooking  long  enough  ;  but  one  of  these  kettles  would 
only  last  to  cook  a  single  meal ;  you  couldn't  use  it  a 
second  time,  but  it  was  all  right  for  one  cooking.  I 
have  seen  a  hide  kettle  used,  and  eaten  from  it." 

Jack  sat  thinking,  for  awhile,  and  then  he  turned  to 
Hugh  and  said  : 

"  I  tell  you,  Hugh,  if  all  you  know  about  Indians, 
and  about  this  Western  country  were  put  in  a  book,  it 
would  make  an  awful  big  one,  would  n't  it?" 

"  Well,  I  don't  know,  son,"  said  Hugh,  "  maybe  it 
might  ;  but  a  man  has  got  to  learn  the  life  he's  lived  ; 
if  he  does  n't,  he  won't  amount  to  nothing.  I  expect 
if  all  that  you  know  about  the  East  was  put  in  a 
book  it  would  make  quite  a  sizable  one." 

"Oh,"  said  Jack,  "that's  nothing.  The  things  I 
know  don't  amount  to  anything,  and  everybody  else 
knows  them  a  good  deal  better  than  I  do." 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MUSSELSHELL     35 

"  Well,  I  tell  you,"  said  Hugh,  *'  the  things  that  are 
new  and  strange  to  you  seem  kind  o'  wonderful,  but 
they  don't  seem  wonderful  to  me ;  but  I  remember 
one  time  you  were  telling  me  something  about  catch- 
ing  fish  down  at  the  place  called  Great  South  Bay, 
and  talking  about  seeing  the  vessels  sailing  on  the 
ocean,  and  to  me  that  seemed  mighty  wonderful." 

By  this  time  the  boat  had  left  the  landing-place, 
and  the  light  was  growing  dim.  They  turned  and 
looked  back,  and  there  across  the  wide  bottom  was 
moving  toward  the  Post,  a  long  string  of  people,  men 
and  women  and  children  and  dog  travois,  so  that  it 
looked  almost  like  a  moving  camp.  Hugh  and  Jack 
sat  for  a  while  longer  on  the  deck  talking,  and  then, 
as  the  mosquitoes  got  bad,  they  turned  in. 

The  next  afternoon  the  boat  reached  Fort  Peck, 
then  one  of  the  most  important  Indian  agencies  on 
the  Missouri  River.  It  stood  on  a  narrow  bench,  a 
few  log  buildings  surrounded  by  a  stockade,  and  back 
of  it  the  bluffs  rose  sharply,  and  were  dotted  with  the 
scaffolds  of  the  dead.  It  seemed  to  Jack  that  there 
must  be  hundreds  and  hundreds,  if  not  thousands,  of 
these  graves  in  sight.  From  the  poles  of  some  of 
them  long  streamers  were  blown  out  in  the  wind, 
which  Hugh  told  him  were  offerings  tied  to  the  poles 
of  the  scaffolds  by  mourning  relatives.  But  few  living 
Indians  were  seen  here,  and  there  were  only  three 
or  four  white  men  seen  about  the  trading  post.  They 
did  not  leave  the  boat,  which  soon  pushed  on  again. 

"The  Indians  about  here  have  been  awful  mean," 
said  Hugh  ;  "  Lots  of  things  were  brought  in  here 
that    the    Sioux   took    from    the    Custer    battlefield. 


36  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

Somebody  told  me  that  Custer's  gold  watch  was 
brought  in  here  by  an  Indian,  who  wanted  to  know 
how  much  it  was  worth  :  but  so  many  questions  were 
asked  him  about  it  that  he  just  put  the  watch  in  his 
sack  and  lit  out,  and  has  not  been  seen  here  since," 

As  the  boat  passed  the  mouth  of  the  Musselshell 
early  next  morning  Hugh  pointed  shoreward,  and 
said : 

"  Do  you  see  that  place  over  there  where  that 
creek  comes  in,  son  ?  " 

"  Why,  of  course  I  see  it,  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "  and 
the  timber  that  runs  along  it.     What  creek  is  it?" 

"You  ought  to  know,"  said  Hugh,  with  a  laugh; 
*'  you  got  scared  in  it  a  whole  lot  last  summer." 

"Why,  Hugh,  is  that  the  Musselshell?"  said  Jack. 

"  That's  what  it  is,"  said  Hugh  ;  "  and  seeing  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  and  them  sticks  there  on  the  flat, 
reminds  me  of  the  big  fight  that  took  place  there 
some  years  back.  I  wonder  if  you  ever  heard  about 
it.  I  meant  to  tell  you  last  summer,  but  somehow  it 
slipped  my  mind.  It  was  there  that  Liver-Eating 
Johnson  got  his  name.  They  used  to  say  that  he  cut 
out  the  liver  of  an  Indian  that  got  killed  in  that  fight 
and  ate  it.  Of  course  he  never  did,  but  they  tell  the 
story  about  him,  and  I  rather  think  he  was  kind  o' 
proud  about  it  after  a  little  while,  and  liked  the  name. 

"  I  think  it  was  in  1869  that  the  fight  took  place, 
along  in  the  spring. 

"  You  know  the  steamboats  always  have  trouble  in 
coming  up  to  Benton  in  the  low  water ;  and  along 
about  1866,  after  the  mines  got  paying,  and  when  the 
fur  trade  was  good,  some  men  at  Helena  formed  a 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MUSSELSHELL     5- 

company  to  make  a  road  and  start  a  freight  line  down 
to  some  point  on  the  river  that  the  boats  could 
always  get  to.  These  men  did  n't  know  much  about 
the  river,  and  they  chose  the  mouth  of  the  Mussel- 
shell for  the  point  where  their  road,  which  began  at 
Helena,  should  end. 

"  Now,  I  suppose  if  they'd  raked  the  whole  river 
with  a  fine-tooth  comb  they  could  n't  have  found  a 
poorer  place  for  a  town,  nor  a  poorer  country  to 
travel  through,  than  this  one  they  pitched  on.  The 
place  chosen  for  the  town  was  that  little  neck  of  land 
between  the  Musselshell  and  the  Missouri.  The  soil 
is  a  bad-land  clay,  which  in  summer  is  an  alkali 
desert,  and  in  spring  is  a  regular  bog,  in  which  a 
saddle-blanket  would  mire  down.  Then,  all  along 
the  Musselshell  was  a  favorite  camping  and  hunting 
ground  for  the  Indians,  and  in  those  days  Indians 
were  bad.  Well,  they  made  up  their  company,  and 
started  their  town.  There  were  n't  many  settlers,  but 
a  few  people,  mostly  hunters  and  wood-choppers, 
stopped  there ;  and  of  course,  wherever  there  were  a 
few  people  gathered  together,  there  was  sure  to  be  a 
store  and  a  few  saloons. 

"I  think  it  was  along  in  1868  that  a  man  came 
down  there  with  a  fine  train  of  mules.  Likely  he 
expected  to  get  some  freighting  to  do  when  the  boats 
came  up  the  river.  The  stock  was  turned  out,  and 
some  men  were  on  guard,  when  a  party  of  Sioux 
charged  in  among  them,  killed  two  of  the  men,  and 
ran  off  every  hoof  of  stock.  The  thing  was  done  in  a 
minute  ;  and  before  the  men  could  get  out  of  their 
houses  and  tents  the  stock  was  gone,  and  the  Indians^ 


'38  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

along  with  it:  all  except  one  young  fellow,  who,  just 
to  show  what  he  could  do,  charged  back  and  rode 
through  the  crowd,  making  fun  of  them  as  he  went 
along.  So  far  as  anybody  knew,  not  one  Indian  got 
hit. 

"  It  was  not  very  long  after  that  that  the  Sioux 
came  down  and  charged  into  the  Crow  camp,  and  ran 
off  eight  hundred  head  of  horses.  Of  course  that 
made  a  big  excitement.  The  Crows  jumped  on  their 
horses  an  pursued  and  they  had  quite  a  fight,  and 
some  of  the  Indians  got  killed. 

"  During  the  Spring  of  1869,  the  Indians  used  to 
attack  the  town  every  few  days  ;  a  Crow  squaw  that 
was  living  there  got  siiot  through  the  body,  and  a 
white  woman  was  wounded,  knocked  down,  and 
scalped,  but  I  reckon  she's  living  yet.  Anybody  that 
went  out  any  distance  from  the  town  was  sure  to  be 
shot  at  and  chased.  It  was  a  time  for  a  man  to 
travel  'round  with  his  gun  loaded,  and  in  his  hand  all 
the  time.  The  Indians  didn't  do  much  of  anything, 
but  they  kept  the  people  scared  up  everlastingly.  It 
got  to  be  so,  finally,  that  the  Indians  would  charge 
down  near  the  town,  and  then  swing  off  and  run 
away,  and  pretty  much  all  the  men  would  run  out 
and  run  after  them,  shooting  as  long  as  the  Indians 
were  in  sight. 

"  One  morning  there  were  a  couple  of  Crow  women 
out  a  little  way  from  town,  gathering  sage  brush  for 
wood,  and  the  Indians  opened  fire  on  them.  The 
white  men  all  rushed  out  and  after  the  Indians,  who 
numbered  sixteen.  They  ran  on  foot  over  toward  the 
Musselshell,  and  then  up  the  bottom,  not  going  very 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MUSSELSHELL     39 

fast,  and  the  white  men  were  gaining  on  them,  and 
thinking  that  now  they  would  force  them  to  a  regular 
fight ;  when  suddenly,  from  a  ravine  on  the  Mussel- 
shell, a  shot  was  fired,  which  killed  a  man  named 
Leader. 

"  That  stopped  the  whites  right  ofT,  and  they 
turned  to  run  ;  and  if  the  Indians  had  charged  'em 
then,  I  expect  they'd  have  got  every  last  one  of  'em. 
But  Henry  McDonald  saw  what  would  happen  if  they 
ran,  and,  bringing  down  his  rifle,  swore  he'd  shoot  the 
first  man  who  went  faster  than  a  walk. 

"They  could  see  now  that  there  was  quite  a  body 
of  Indians  in  the  ravine  on  the  bank  of  the  Mussel- 
shell, but  they  could  n't  tell  how  many.  There  was 
some  little  shooting  between  the  two  parties.  Most 
of  the  whites  moved  back  to  the  settlement  ;  but 
there  were  half  a  dozen  men  who  did  not  retreat ;  but 
getting  under  cover,  within  thirty  or  forty  yards  of 
the  Indians,  held  them  there.  They  kept  shooting, 
back  and  forth,  and  presently  a  man  named  Green- 
wood got  shot  through  the  lungs,  and  had  to  be 
carried  back.  The  other  men  stood  their  ground, 
and  the  Indians,  knowing  that  they  had  to  do  with 
good  shots,  did  not  dare  to  show  their  heads. 

"After  two  or  three  hours  of  this  sort  of  thing,  it 
began  to  rain,  a  mighty  lucky  thing  for  the  white 
men.  They  were  all  armed  with  Henry  rifles,  or 
needle-guns,  while  the  Indians,  for  the  most  part,  had 
bows  and  arrows,  with  some  flintlock  guns.  They 
had  stripped  themselves  for  war,  and  had  no  clothing 
with  which  they  could  cover  their  gun-locks  and  bow- 
strings to  keep  them  from  getting  wet.     After  a  little 


40  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

ot  this,  the  white  men  began  to  see  that  the  Indians 
were  practically  disarmed,  and  began  to  think  about 
charging  them  ;  but  when  they  raised  up  to  look,  they 
saw  that  there  was  a  big  party  of  men  there,  and  that 
the  only  way  to  get  them,  except  in  a  hand  to  hand 
fight,  was  for  some  of  the  party  to  cross  the  Mussel- 
shell, and  get  to  a  point  where  they  could  shoot  into 
the  ravine,  thus  driving  the  Indians  out  and  placing 
them  between  two  fires.  Three  men  started  to  do  this. 
**  When  the  Indians  saw  what  the  white  men  were 
trying  to  do,  they  ran  down  to  the  mouth  of  the 
ravine  and  tried  to  shoot  at  them  ;  but  their  strings 
were  wet,  and  the  arrows  had  no  force  and  hardly 
reached  the  men,  and  very  few  of  their  guns  would 
go  off.  The  three  men  got  across  the  river,  and  went 
down  to  a  point  opposite  the  ravine,  and  began  to 
shoot  at  the  Indians;  but  by  this  time  all  the  men  in 
the  settlement  had  collected  together,  about  eight 
hundred  yards  behind  the  Indians,  and  seeing  these 
three  men  on  the  other  side  of  the  stream  took  them 
for  Indians  and  began  to  shoot  at  them  ;  so  that  the 
three  white  men  who  had  crossed  had  to  get  away 
and  re-cross  the  Musselshell.  By  this  time  half  a 
dozen  other  men  got  around  on  the  lower  side  of  the 
Indians,  and  then  again  three  men  crossed  the  river 
and  commenced  to  shoot  up  the  ravine.  This  was 
too  much  for  the  Indians:  they  jumped  out  of  their 
hole  and  started  to  get  away,  and  everybody  was 
shooting  at  them  as  hard  as  they  could.  The  fire 
from  the  body  of  men  near  the  town  still  continued, 
and  obliged  the  men  who  were  doing  the  real  fighting 
to  keep  more  or  less  under  cover.     The  Indians  broke 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MUSSELSHELL    41 

for  the  Musselshell,  crossing  it  where  they  could,  and 
most  of  them  got  away;  but  thirteen  were  killed,  and 
it  was  said  that  a  good  many  more  died  on  the  way 
to  camp,  and  only  one  of  the  ninety  and  more  who 
were  in  the  fight  escaped  without  a  wound.  The  next 
day  after  that,  the  white  men  found  the  place  wherej 
the  Indians  had  stripped  for  the  fight  and  left  their 
things,  and  there  over  a  hundred  robes  and  two  war 
bonnets  and  a  whole  lot  of  other  stuff  were  found. 
Most  of  it  was  sold,  and  the  money  given  to  Green- 
wood, who  was  wounded.  Jim  Wells  and  Henry 
McDonald,  I  heard,  each  got  a  war  bonnet. 

"  The  freight  road  was  given  up,  and  pretty  much 
everybody  left  the  place, —  except  some  traders  who 
stopped  there  a  little  longer.  Then  Carroll  was 
started,  up  near  the  Little  Rockies,  and  in  a  very 
much  better  place,  and  that  was  the  end  of  Mussel- 
shell City.  It  was  at  this  same  place  that  Johnson 
claimed  to  have  made  for  himself  a  razor  strap  from  a 
strip  of  skin  that  he  cut  from  an  Indian's  back:  but 
Johnson  was  always  a  good  man  to  tell  stories,  and 
you  never  could  be  quite  sure  when  he  was  telling  the 
truth  and  when  he  was  joking. 

"A  few  years  ago  there  used  to  be  lots  of  talk 
about  that  fight,  and  the  people  called  it  one  of  the 
biggest  lickings  that  the  Indians  ever  got  in  this  part 
of  the  country." 

Pushing  along  up  the  river,  the  boat  passed  beyond 
the  Musselshell,  and  then  up  by  Carroll,  and  the 
Little  Rocky  Mountain,  and  the  Bearspaw, —  and  at 
last  one  day,  about  noon.  Fort  Benton  came  in  sight. 

For   the    last    two    hundred    miles    they    had    seen 


42  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

a  good  deal  of  game.  Buffalo  were  almost  always  in 
sight  on  the  bluffs,  or  in  the  bottom  ;  elk,  frightened 
by  the  approach  of  the  steamer,  tore  through  the 
willow  points  ;  deer,  both  black-tail  and  white-tail, 
were  often  seen,  and  on  several  occasions  mountain 
sheep  were  viewed  —  once  in  the  bottom  and  at  other 
times  on  the  high  bad-land  bluffs.  One  of  the  herds 
was  a  large  one,  which  Hugh  said  must  contain 
seventy-five  or  a  hundred  animals. 

As  Benton  was  approached,  Jack  began  to  feel 
more  and  more  excited.  Here  he  hoped  to  meet  Joe, 
who  had  been  warned  some  months  before  by  Mr. 
Sturgis  that  Hugh  and  Jack  would  be  at  Benton  early 
in  July:  and  Joe  would  have  with  him  the  horses,  a 
lodge,  and  all  their  camp  equipage ;  so  that,  if  nothing 
interfered  to  prevent,  the  next  morning  they  could 
start  out  on  their  trip. 


CHAPTER  III 

FOR  THE   BLACKFOOT   CAMP 

As  the  boat  slowly  drew  near  the  wharf,  Hugh  and 
Jack,  from  the  upper  deck,  recognized  first  the  old 
adobe  fort  and  then,  one  after  another,  the  different 
buildings  of  the  town.  The  arrival  of  the  steamer  was 
always  a  great  event  in  Benton,  and  pretty  much  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town  were  seen  making  their  way 
toward  the  water's  edge.  The  throng  was  made  up  of 
whites  and  Indians,  with  an  occasional  Chinaman  :  for 
already  Chinamen  had  begun  to  come  into  the  coun- 
try. At  first  the  two  watchers  from  the  steamboat 
could  recognize  no  faces,  but,  as  the  boat  drew  nearer 
and  nearer,  Hugh  suddenly  let  his  hand  fall  on  Jack's 
shoulder  and  said,  "  There's  Baptiste,  and  I  believe 
that's  Joe  standing  near  him." 

"  Oh,  where  are  they,  Hugh  ?  I  can't  see  either  of 
them:"  and  then  a  moment  later,  after  Hugh  had 
told  him  where  the  two  stood,  he  saw  them  ;  and 
springing  up  on  the  rail,  and  holding  to  a  stanchion, 
he  waved  his  hat,  and  shouted  out  to  Joe,  who  had 
already  recognized  him  and  made  joyous  gestures  in 
response. 

A  little  later,  the  four  were  cordially  shaking  hands 
on  the  shore :  and  presently,  when  the  crowd  of 
passengers  had  left  the  boat,  the  two  old  men  and  the 


44  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

boys  went  on  board  again  and,  mounting  to  the  upper 
deck,  talked  together.  Jack's  first  question  to  Joe 
was  as  to  the  whereabouts  of  the  camp. 

"  Down  east  of  the  Judith  Mountains  somewhere, 
I  expect,"  said  Joe  in  reply.  "They  went  down 
there  to  kill  buffalo;  there's  lots  of  bufTalo  over  on 
the  Judith,  or  between  the  Judith  and  the  Mussel- 
shell. I  guess  they'll  be  there  all  summer,  and  before 
I  left  the  camp  I  heard  that  they  would  make  the 
medicine  lodge  somewhere  out  in  that  country." 

"What  about  the  hostiles,  Joe?"  said  Jack. 
"  Have  they  seen  any  Sioux  lately  ?  " 

"No,"  said  Joe,  "  but  I've  heard  that  there  area 
few  passing  back  and  forth,  between  the  lower  coun- 
try and  Sitting  Bull's  camp,  over  across  the  line." 

"  Like  enough,"  said  Hugh,  "  like  enough.  We've 
got  to  look  out  for  those  fellows ;  but  they  won't  do 
nothing  more  than  try  to  steal  our  horses." 

Hugh  had  been  talking  quietly  with  Baptiste  La 
Jeunesse,  who  told  him  what  had  been  happening  in 
Benton  during  the  winter.  This  was  not  much  :  there 
was  talk  that  a  railroad  was  going  to  be  built  into  the 
country,  one  that  might  even  pass  through  Fort 
Benton  itself,  and  this  would  make  the  town  big  and 
important,  so  people  said  —  and  Fort  Benton  would 
once  more  become  what  it  had  been  in  the  early  days 
of  the  fur  trade,  a  populous  and  thriving  place. 

"And  how  have  you  been  getting  on  yourself, 
Bat?"    said  Hugh. 

"Oh,  I've  done  well.  I  always  have  everything 
that  I  want,  since  you  people  came  in  here  last  sum- 
mer and  gave  me  the  gold.     Every  month  I  go  to  the 


START  FOR  THE  BLACKFOOT  CAMP    45 

bank,  and  they  give  me  the  pay  for  the  money  that 
you  lent  them  for  me,  and  so  I  live  well.  It  doesn't 
make  any  difference  to  me  whether  Fve  work  to  do  or 
not,  yet  always  it  is  pleasant  to  be  doing  something, 
and  so  I  keep  on  working.  Also,  there  are  some 
people  in  the  town  who  are  poor,  just  as  I  used  to  be; 
and  now  that  I  have  money  I  can  help  them  to  live^ 
just  as  your  boy  has  helped  me." 

"  Well,  Bat,  it  makes  me  feel  good  that  you  are 
doing  well,  and  I  think  that  you  will  continue  to  do 
well  from  this  on." 

"  And  what  are  you  going  to  do  this  season, 
Hugh?"  said  Baptiste.  "  Where  are  you  going,  and 
what  are  you  going  to  do  —  hunting  or  trapping,  or 
what  ?  " 

"  Well,  Bat,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  am  traveling  'round 
again  with  this  boy  of  mine.  His  uncle  and  his 
father  and  mother  want  him  to  spend  the  summers 
out  here,  and  get  strong  and  hearty,  and  they've  told 
me  to  travel  with  him,  and  teach  him  about  the  way 
of  living  out  here ;  the  same  lesson  that  you  and  I 
learned  when  we  were  young ;  only  he  will  learn  it  in 
a  better  and  easier  way  than  we  did.  He's  a  good 
boy  :  I  like  him  better  all  the  time.  I  should  feel  bad 
if  anything  happened  to  him." 

"Yes,  Hugh,  I  think  he's  a  good  boy, "  said  Bap- 
tiste. "  Both  of  those  boys  are  good.  I  like  the 
Indian  well.  He  came  in  here  many  days  ago,  and 
came  to  me  ;  and  since  he  got  here,  he  and  I  have 
lived  together.     I  like  him.  " 

Hugh  now  turned  to  the  two  boys,  who  were  busily 
talking,  and  said  ;  "  Now,  boys,  if  we're  going  to  get 


46  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

off  to-night  we've  got  to  make  a  start  right  soon.  I 
expect  Joe  has  got  all  our  stuff  ready,  except  the 
grub,  and  if  you  and  he  will  hurry  up  and  get  the 
horses  togetiier  and  get  them  saddled,  I'll  go  and  buy 
the  grub,  and  put  it  in  the  wagon,  and  come  down 
here  and  get  our  guns  and  beds,  and  we'll  pack  up 
and  move  out  of  town  four  or  five  miles  and  camp." 

Both  the  boys  jumped  to  their  feet,  and  Jack 
said  ;  "  Hurray!  that's  what  I  want  to  do;  I  want  to 
get  out  on  the  prairie  once  more,  and  I  don't  want  to 
see  a  town  again  until  I  have  to." 

Jack  and  Joe  started  at  once,  and  ran  races  with 
each  other  up  the  street,  to  see  which  should  get 
first  to  the  stable.  Joe  beat  the  white  boy,  who 
found  that  his  winter's  confinement,  and  his  lack  of 
exercise  in  the  big  city  had  made  him  short  of  wind  ; 
so  that  at  last  he  got  out  of  breath,  and  stopped  run- 
ning. When  they  reached  the  stable,  Joe  took  his  rope 
and  went  out  into  the  corral,  and  caught  a  handsome 
little  buckskin  pony,  and,  saddling  it,  rode  out  to 
get  the  animals  which  were  pasturing  on  the  bluffs 
above  the  town.  He  was  gone  some  little  time,  and 
then,  Jack,  who  was  watching  for  him,  saw  the  fami- 
liar sight  of  loose  horses  running  along  the  bluff,  and 
then  turning  and  rushing  down  its  steep  sides,  fol- 
lowed by  a  cloud  of  dust  ;  and  then  Joe,  with  whoops 
and  yells,  and  quick  turnings  and  twistings  of  his 
horse,  drove  them  up  to  the  bars,  through  which  they 
crowded,  and  then  stood  quiet  in  the  corral. 

Jack  thought  that  he  would  try  his  old  scheme  of 
calling  Pawnee,  and  whistled  sharply.  The  good  horse 
threw  up  his  head,  and  looked  about,  and  then  seem- 


START  FOR  THE  BLACKFOOT  CAMP    47 

ing  to  recognize  Jack,  walked  over  to  him,  and  arched 
his  neck  over  his  shoulder  in  the  old-fashioned  way. 
Jack  was  very  much  touched,  and  put  his  arms  around 
the  horse's  head,  and  leaned  his  head  against  his 
neck,  thrilled  with  affection  for  the  animal  that  he 
had  ridden  so  many  miles.  Presently  they  got  out 
the  ropes,  and  tied  up  the  horses,  and  one  by  one 
they  were  saddled.  They  were  all  fat  and  in  good 
condition,  and  some  of  them  objected  quite  strongly 
to  being  saddled.  The  dun  bucked  when  the  flank 
cinch  tightened  on  him,  just  as  he  had  bucked  the 
first  time  Jack  ever  saw  him  packed,  and  so  did  the 
star-faced  bay.  The  others  grunted  and  squealed  and 
kicked  a  little,  but  on  the  whole  took  the  saddling 
very  well. 

Not  long  after  they  had  finished  saddling  up  they 
heard  a  cheery  call  from  the  front  of  the  stable,  and, 
rushing  out,  Jack  saw  the  wagon,  piled  up  with  food 
and  beds,  and  Hugh  and  Baptiste,  sitting  in  it.  It 
took  some  little  time  to  make  up  the  packs,  but  by 
late  afternoon  this  was  done,  the  horses  packed,  and 
after  shaking  hands  with  Baptiste,  the  little  train, 
with  Hugh  in  the  lead.  Jack  driving  three  pack 
horses,  and  Joe  bringing  up  the  rear,  driving  two 
more,  filed  out  of  the  town  and  climbed  the  hills 
toward  the  upper  prairie. 

That  afternoon  they  traveled  until  the  sun  went 
down,  and  then  coming  on  a  little  coulee,  through 
which  water  trickled,  they  camped.  They  were  care- 
ful to  picket  all  their  horses ;  and  after  this  was  done, 
while  Joe  and  Jack  brought  armfuls  of  willow  brush 
from  up  and  down  the  creek,  Hugh  cooked  supper. 


48  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

The  next  day  they  kept  on.  Now  they  were  well 
away  from  the  settlements,  and  game  began  to  be 
seen.  Only  antelope,  it  is  true,  but  of  them  there 
were  plenty.  Jack  had  a  fair  shot  at  a  buck,  at 
about  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  yards,  but  failed 
to  kill  him  —  to  his  great  mortification. 

"Ha!"  said  Hugh,  "you've  got  to  learn  how  to 
shoot  again  ;  you  shot  too  high,  and  missed  him  slick 
and  clean.  I  remember  the  first  shot  you  fired  last 
year,  when  you  first  came  out  ;  you  shot  high  then, 
just  as  you  did  now.  When  we  get  to  camp  to-night, 
you  and  Joe  had  better  go  out  and  shoot  three  or 
four  times  at  a  mark.  You  have  got  to  learn  your 
gun  over  again,  and  Joe  of  course  has  got  to  learn  his 
for  the  first  time."  Jack  had  brought  out  from  New 
York  a  gun  for  Joe,  carefully  selected  from  the  stock 
of  one  of  the  largest  rifle  manufacturers  in  the  world, 
and  as  yet  Joe  had  not  fired  a  shot  out  of  it ;  but  he 
seemed  never  to  tire  of  looking  at  it,  and  putting  it  up 
to  his  shoulder,  and  sighting  at  various  objects.  That 
night  they  camped  on  a  great  swiftly  rushing  stream, 
near  some  high  hills,  or  low  mountains  ;  and  while  he 
was  cooking  supper  Hugh  sent  them  off  to  try  their 
guns.  With  the  axe  they  shaved  off  the  outer  bark 
from  a  thick  cotton-wood  tree,  and  making  a  black 
mark  on  the  brown  surface,  each  fired  five  shots  at  it. 
Jack's  first  two  shots  were  high,  but  the  next  three 
were  clustered  within  the  size  of  a  silver  dollar,  all 
about  the  mark.  Joe  did  not  shoot  quite  so  steadily, 
two  of  his  shots  being  above,  and  two  below,  and  one 
a  little  ofT  to  one  side.  When  they  returned  to  camp 
and  Hugh  asked  them  about  their  shooting,  they  told 


START  FOR  THE  BLACKFOOT  CAMP    49 

him,  and  he  advised  them  to  fire  a  few  more  shots 
after  supper,  and,  if  necessary,  a  few  in  the  morning. 

"  There's  nothing,  I  hate  worse  than  to  hear  a  gun 
fired  about  camp,"  he  said,  "but  guns  are  no  use  to 
people  unless  they  understand  them,  and  you  boys 
must  get  used  to  your  guns.  It  won't  take  you  more 
than  a  very  few  shots  to  do  this,  and  you  certainly 
must  do  it." 

The  next  morning  they  started  on  again.  No  signs 
had  yet  been  seen  of  the  Indians,  but  this  day  they 
saw  a  few  buffalo,  old  bulls,  mostly  off  to  the  north 
of  them.  In  the  afternoon  they  passed  by  the  Moc- 
casin Mountains,  and  camped  on  a  little  stream  flow- 
ing into  the  Judith  River.  After  they  had  unpacked 
their  animals  and  made  camp,  Hugh  said  to  Jack, 
"Son,  have  you  ever  been  here  before?  Do  you  see 
anything  that  you  recognize?" 

"  Why,  no  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "  I  don't  think  I  do  ;  " 
and  standing  up  he  took  a  long  look  about  him,  up 
and  down  the  valley,  and  at  the  hills  on  either  side. 
Suddenly  his  face  brightened,  and  he  said,  "  Why  yes 
I  do,  too.  I  know  where  we  are.  This  is  just  where 
we  came  through  last  year,  the  second  day  after  I  got 
caught  in  the  quicksands  in  the  Musselshell." 

"That's  so,"  said  Hugh,  "  this  is  just  where  we 
came.  I  wondered  if  you'd  recognize  it.  You  ought 
to  do  so,  and  I'm  glad  you  do. 

"  Right  over  a  few  miles  east  of  us  is  what  we  used 
to  call  old  Camp  Lewis.  There  used  to  be  a  trading 
store  there,  and  a  camp  of  soldiers,  and  a  few  men 
got  killed  there,  mostly  soldiers.  I  remember  coming 
through  here  not  many  years  ago,  the  afternoon  after 


50  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

some  soldiers  got  killed  on  the  bank  of  the  creek, 
right  close  to  the  camp.  There  was  a  camp  of  Crows 
there  then  —  about  three  hundred  lodges.  The  Sioux 
came  down,  and  ran  off  some  government  horses,  and 
killed  three  recruits  that  were  fishing  here  in  the 
creek,  and  the  Crows  took  after  'em,  and  had  quite  a 
fight,  and  Long  Horse,  the  Crow  chief  got  killed. 
They  got  seven  of  the  Sioux,  I  think.  They  had 
quite  a  time  here  in  the  camp  then.  I  remember 
Yellowstone  Kelly  was  here,  and  three  or  four  other 
men ;  I  think  the  Sioux  set  them  all  afoot." 

The  next  morning  while  Hugh  was  getting  break- 
fast he  said  to  Jack:  "Son,  why  don't  you  kill  some 
meat?  You  are  going  through  a  country  where  game 
is  fairly  plenty  ;  anyway,  antelope  are,  and  there's  a 
few  buffalo  ;  and  besides  that,  here  are  some  moun- 
tains right  close  to  you,  where  there's  surely  lots  of 
sheep.  You  boys  had  better  make  up  your  minds  to 
do  something  to-day  ;  if  you  don't  I'll  have  to  start 
out  and  hunt,  to  kill  meat  for  the  camp," 

"Well,  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "  I  certainly  would  rather 
hunt  than  drive  pack  horses  ;  and  if  you  want  me  to 
I'll  go  off  to-day  and  follow  along  a  little  closer  to 
the  hills,  and  see  if  I  can't  kill  something." 

"Do  so,"  said  Hugh,  "and  then  if  you  kill  any- 
thing you  can  easily  overtake  us.  We  will  be  travel- 
ing slow,  and  your  horse  is  good  and  fat  and  can 
catch  us  wherever  we  are.  All  tlie  same,  keep  your 
eye  open  for  Indians,  and  don't  let  any  strai.gers 
come  up  too  close  to  you.  I'd  rather  have  you  two 
boys  go  off  together,  but  I've  got  to  keep  Joe  with  me, 
to  drive  these  pack  horses.     You'd  better  throw  th2 


START  FOR  THE  BLACKFOOT  CAMP     51 

saddle  on  your  horse  and  start  right  off,  and  maybe 
you'll  catch  us  before  we've  gone  very  far." 

No  sooner  said  than  done.     Jack  saddled  up,  and 
having  asked   Hugh  the  direction  in  which  the  party 
would  move,  rode  away  to  the  left,  toward  the  low 
foot-hills    of    the    mountains.     He    had  gone  only  a 
mile   or   two  when,  passing  over  the  shoulder  of  the 
foot-hills,  he  found  himself  coming  down  into  a  nan 
row  valley,  in  which  pretty  little  meadows  were  inter, 
spersed    with    clumps    of    cottonwoods    and    willows. 
Three  or  four  antelope  were  feeding  in  the  valley  not 
far  off,  but  there  was  no  cover  under  which  they  could 
be    approached,   so    he    rode    straight  along.     As  he 
drew   near,   the   antelope   ceased    feeding    and    raised 
their  heads,  and  then,  before  he  was  within  easy  rifle 
shot,  trotted  off  to  the  other  side  of  the  valley,  and 
stood  on  the   hill-side  watching  him.     After  looking 
back  for  a  few  moments,  they  started,  in  single  file, 
and    slowly   walked   up  the   hill.     They  were   by   no 
means  frightened,  and  it  seemed  likely  that  by  taking 
a  little  time,  after  they  had  passed  on  out  of  sight,  he 
might  get  a  shot  at  them  ;  but  the  brush  above  him 
on   the  stream  seemed   likely  to   hold   a   deer,  and   he 
turned  his  horse  that  way  and  rode  quietly  forward 
up  the  stream,  among  the  groups  of  bushes.     He  had 
not  gone  very  far  when  from  a  clump  of  willows  at 
his  right   a   big   doe    sprang   into   view,   and    moved 
slowly  off  by  those  high,  long  bounds  which  make  the 
white-tail,  in  motion,  one  of  the  most  graceful  of  ani- 
mals.    Jack's  impulse  was  to  jump  off  his  horse  and 
shoot  at  her,  but  he  saw  that,  if  he  did  this,  he  would 
be  so  low  down  that  she  could  hardly  be  seen  over  the 


52  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

tops  of  the  willows.  He  checked  Pawnee,  cocked  his 
gun,  and  rising  a  little  in  his  stirrups,  and  gripping 
the  horse  with  his  thighs,  aimed  carefully  at  the  back 
of  the  doe's  head,  just  as  she  was  rising  in  one  of 
her  leaps,  and  pulled  the  trigger. 

Almost  at  the  report,  her  long  tail  fell  flat  to  her 
body,  and  she  began  to  run  much  faster.  He  knew 
he  had  hit  her,  and  before  she  had  gone  fifty  yards, 
and  while  she  was  crossing  an  open  bit  of  meadow, 
she  fell.  Jack  rode  up  to  her,  and  on  turning  her 
over  found  that  he  had  made  a  good  shot.  A  ball 
had  entered  her  back,  just  to  the  right  of  the  spine, 
and  had  pierced  both  lungs  and  heart. 

Turning  her  over,  to  get  her  ready  to  put  on  the 
horse,  he  was  glad  to  see  that  she  was  a  barren  doe, 
one  that  had  not  produced  a  fawn  that  spring,  and  so 
would  be  fat  and  good  eating.  She  was  pretty  big, 
however,  and  Jack  was  a  little  uncertain  just  how  he 
was  going  to  get  her  on  his  horse.  Of  course  by  cut- 
ting her  up  it  could  easily  have  been  done,  for  then 
the  quarters  would  not  be  too  heavy  for  him  to 
handle.  At  first  he  thought  that  he  would  take  in 
the  whole  animal,  but  considering  the  time  that  this 
might  take,  and  the  fact  that  he  had  to  ride  a  long 
way  before  overtaking  his  companions,  he  determined 
to  do  things  in  the  easier  way.  He  skinned  the  deer, 
therefore,  cut  off  the  shoulders  and  hams,  and  tied 
them  on  his  horse,  and  then  taking  out  sirloins  and 
tenderloins,  and  some  of  the  fat,  wrapped  this  up  in 
the  skin,  and  put  that  on  behind  the  saddle.  Now  he 
had  a  fairly  compact  load,  which  could  be  easily 
carried,  and  would   not   be  a  great   additional  weight 


START  FOR  THE  BLACKFOOT  CAMP     53 

for  his  horse ;  while  on  the  ground  were  left  all  the 
bones  of  the  deer,  except  those  of  the  legs.  This 
method  of  butchering  he  had  learned  from  the 
Indians  the  summer  before. 

All  this  had  taken  some  little  time,  and  when  Jack 
looked  at  the  sun  he  saw  that  the  morning  was  half 
gone.  Hugh  had  told  him  that  they  would  follow  the 
trail  around  the  point  of  the  mountains,  and  would 
then  strike  the  Carroll  Road,  and  bend  back  toward 
the  river  again.  This  meant  that  if  he  could  cross 
the  point  of  the  mountains  he  would  save  several 
miles  travel,  and  this  he  determined  to  do. 

Before  starting,  he  tightened  up  his  cinches  care- 
fully, for  he  knew  that  the  pieces  of  meat  tied  on  his 
saddle  would  give  it  more  or  less  side  motion,  and  he 
did  not  want  it  to  chafe  Pawnee's  back.  Then  he 
climbed  into  the  saddle  and  started.  By  this  time 
the  sun  was  pouring  down  hot  upon  him,  and  there 
was  no  breeze.  From  the  high  ridges  that  he  crossed 
from  time  to  time  he  had  a  wide  view  of  the  prairie, 
and  of  the  distant  mountains,  the  Little  Belts  and 
Snowies,  which  rose  from  the  plain  a  long  way  to  the 
south.  Here  and  there  on  the  prairie  were  black  dots, 
which  he  knew  were  buffalo,  and  other  white  ones,, 
much  nearer,  which  were  antelope.  Occasionally,  as 
he  rode  along,  a  great  sage  grouse  would  rise  from  the 
ground  near  his  horse's  feet,  or  a  jack-rabbit  would 
start  up,  and  after  running  fifteen  or  twenty  yards, 
would  stop,  sit  up,  raise  its  enormous  ears,  look  at 
him  for  a  moment,  and  then  settle  back  on  all  fours, 
and  flatten  itself  on  the  ground,  so  that  if  he  took 
his  eye  off  it  for  a  moment  he  could  not  find  it  again. 


54  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

It  seemed  to  him  then,  as  it  had  so  often  seemed 
before,  a  wonderful  thing  to  see  how  absolutely  this 
wild  creature,  like  so  many  others,  could  disappear 
from  sight  even  while  one  was  looking  at  it. 

As  he  rode  over  a  high  ridge,  he  saw  on  the  hill- 
side before  him,  two  white-rumped  animals,  that  for  a 
moment  he  thought  were  antelope ;  but  a  second 
glance  showed  him  that  they  were  not,  and,  to  his 
very  great  astonishment,  he  recognized  them  as 
mountain  sheep  —  a  ewe  and  her  young  one  —  which 
had  been  feeding  on  the  prairie,  just  where  he  would 
have  expected  an  antelope  to  be.  He  threw  himself 
off  his  horse  and,  cocking  his  gun,  jerked  it  to  his 
shoulder  and  then  paused,  and  lowering  it  again, 
stepped  back  and  put  his  foot  in  the  stirrup.  As  he 
mounted,  the  ewe,  which  had  been  looking  at  him, 
started  to  run,  passing  hardly  more  than  fifty  yards 
in  front  of  him,  closely  followed  by  the  lamb.  A 
little  further  on,  she  stopped  again  and  gazed,  and 
Jack  sat  there  and  returned  her  look.  The  sight  of 
the  sheep  had  been  almost  too  much  for  him,  and  he 
had  come  near  shooting  her, —  but  before  he  pressed 
the  trigger  he  realized  that  if  he  shot  her  he  should 
have  to  shoot  the  lamb,  and  he  could  not  conveniently 
carry  either,  and  the  old  ewe  would  be  thin  in  flesh 
and  hardly  worth  taking  with  him.  The  temptation 
had  been  strong,  but  as  he  sat  there  and  looked  at  the 
graceful  animal,  wliich  stood  and  stamped,  while  the 
lamb,  close  beside  her,  imitated  her  motions,  he 
realized  that  it  was  a  good  thing  to  let  them  go. 

It  seemed  to  him  a  mysterious  thing,  though,  that 
these  sheep  should  be  down  here  on  the  prairie,  and  a 


START  FOR  THE  BLACKFOOT  CAMP     55 

long  way  from  the  rocky  peaks,  where  he  supposed 
they  always  lived.  He  made  up  his  mind  that  he 
would  ask  Hu^i;h  about  this  when  he  got  into  camp 
and  get  him  to  explain  it. 

At  last  he  had  crossed  the  point  of  the  mountains 
and  began  to  descend.  Stretching  out  toward  the 
northeast  he  could  see  a  dim  thin  line,  which,  al- 
though it  was  interrupted  at  times — and  sometimes 
for  long  distances  —  he  thought  must  be  the  Carroll 
Road.  Then  off  a  long  way  to  the  east  was  a  line  of 
dark  —  the  timber  along  a  stream's  course  —  which  he 
supposed  was  where  they  would  camp  to-night. 

He  had  almost  reached  the  level  prairie,  when  sud- 
denly he  became  aware  of  two  horsemen  galloping 
toward  him  from  behind.  He  watched  them  as  they 
drew  nearer,  and  at  last  could  make  out  that  they 
were  Indians  ;  and  by  this  is  meant  that  he  saw  that 
they  had  no  hats  on.  More  than  that,  he  could  see, 
he  thought,  that  one  of  them  had  red  leggings. 


CHAPTER  IV 

OLD  FRIENDS  AND  NEW 

Of  course  there  were  no  known  hostiles  in  the 
country,  but  at  the  same  time  he  recalled  Hugh's 
advice,  not  to  let  any  Indians  come  too  close  to  him. 
These  men  were  galloping  along  and  would  soon 
overtake  him ;  and  if,  by  any  chance  they  should 
happen  to  be  Sioux,  from  Sitting  Bull's  camp,  or 
worthless  Indians  of  any  tribe  that  he  did  not  know, 
they  might  take  his  horse  and  gun,  even  if  they  did 
nothing  worse.  He  decided  then  that  he  would  find 
out  who  they  were,  and  drawing  up  his  horse  on  a 
little  rise  of  ground,  he  dismounted  and  stood  behind 
it,  facing  them  with  his  rifle  barrel  resting  in  the 
saddle.  The  Indians  were  now  only  three  or  four 
hundred  yards  off,  but  when  Jack  did  this  they  at 
once  halted,  and  turning  toward  each  other,  seemed 
to  consult.  Then,  one  of  them,  raising  his  hands 
high  in  the  air,  held  his  gun  above  his  head,  and  after 
handing  it  over  to  his  companion,  struck  his  horse 
with  his  quirt  and  galloped  toward  Jack,  while  the 
other  man  remained  where  he  was. 

The  swift  little  pony  was  soon  within  easy  rifle 
shot,  and  as  its  rider  drew  nearer  and  nearer.  Jack 
seemed  to  recognize  something  familiar  in  the  look  of 
the  man,  yet  he  could  hardly  tell  what  it  was  ;  but  when 
he  was  within  speaking  distance  the  man  called  out; 


OLD  FRIENDS  AND  NEW  57 

"Why,  don't  you  know  me,  Master  Jack?  I'm  Heze- 
kiah;"  and  instantly  Jack  recognized  his  negro  friend 
of  the  Blackfoot  camp.  He  called  back  to  him; 
"  Hello,  Hezekiah  !  come  on  ;  I  didn't  know  who  you 
were.'  And  Hezekiah,  turning  about,  waved  to  his 
companion,  who  started  toward  them. 

Jack  and  Hezekiah  shook  hands,  and  Hezekiah  said  ; 
"You  done  mighty  well  to  stop  us,  Master  Jack  ;  you're 
making  a  good  prairie  man  all  right,  and  I'm  glad  to 
see  it.  Plenty  Indians  traveling  through  this  coun- 
try, back  and  forth,  that  would  be  willing  to  kill  you 
for  your  horse  and  gun  ;  and  it  ain't  far  off  to  the  line, 
and  they'd  skip  across  and  go  to  Sitting  Bull's  camp, 
and  nobody'd  ever  know  who  done  it.  It's  just  like 
what  all  the  Piegans  said  last  year,  after  the  Medicine 
Lodge,  that  you  was  sure  gom'  to  make  a  good 
warrior." 

"Well  Hezekiah,"  said  Jack,  "I  don't  know  as  I'd 
have  stopped  you  if  Hugh  hadn't  spoken  to  me 
about  that  only  this  morning.  He  said  that  there 
were  Sioux  traveling  back  and  forth,  and  that  I  had 
better  not  let  any  Indians  come  up  close  to  me  until 
I  knew  who  they  were.  That's  the  reason  I  stopped 
you."  At  this  moment  the  other  Indian  rode  up, 
and  handing  his  gun  to  Hezekiah,  shook  hands  cor- 
dially with  Jack.  It  was  Bull  Calf,  one  of  his  com- 
panions on  the  trip  to  the  Grassy  Lakes,  where  Jack 
had  shot  the  Assinaboine  who  was  trying  to  steal 
horses  from  the  camp ;  a  young  man  of  good  family 
whom  he  knew  very  well,  and  with  whom  he  had 
been  on  several  hunting  excursions. 

"  Where's  the  camp  Hezekiah  ?  "  asked  Jack.  '*  Hugh 


58  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

and  Joe  have  gone  on  ahead  with  the  pack  train,  and 
I  stopped  behind  to  kill  a  deer.  We're  looking  for 
your  camp,  and  going  to  stay  a  little  while  with  you, 
and  then  we're  going  ofl  south  into  the  mountians." 

"  The  camp  isn't  far  off  Master  Jack,"  said  Heze- 
kiah.  "  I  expect  it's  right  over  there  on  Muddy 
Creek ;  somewhere  in  that  timber.  Some  days  ago 
they  left  Carroll,  and  are  moving  south  now  after 
buffalo  ;  but  Bull  Calf,  here,  and  me,  we  came  'round 
by  the  mountains  here,  to  see  if  we  couldn't  kill  some 
sheep.  I  want  to  get  a  couple  of  shirts  made,  and 
my  woman  says  she'd  rather  make  'em  of  sheep  than 
of  antelope. 

"  I  expect  we'll  strike  the  camp  this  afternoon 
somewhere  and  maybe  we'd  better  be  starting  right 
along  now."  They  mounted,  and  rode  on  over  the  prai- 
rie. Jack  had  many  questions  to  ask  about  what  had 
happened  in  the  Piegan  camp  during  the  winter,  for 
though  Joe  had  told  him  much,  there  were  still  plenty 
of  matters  to  be  discussed.  Hezekiah  and  Bull  Calf 
wanted  to  ride  fast,  but  Jack  did  not  feel  like  doing 
so  with  his  load,  so  he  put  the  two  shoulders  of  the 
deer  on  Bull  Calf's  horse,  and  tied  down  what  he 
carried  so  that  it  would  not  shake,  and  they  went  on 
at  a  good  pace.  An  hour  or  two  of  brisk  riding 
brought  them  close  to  the  stream  ;  but  before  they 
reached  it  they  saw  the  trail  where  the  camp  had 
passed.  Tliere  were  tracks  of  a  great  band  of  horses, 
and  many  scratches  left  by  travois  poles  ;  and  in  the 
trail  there  were  a  number  of  fresher  horse  tracks, 
which  showed  where  Hugh  and  Joe  and  the  pack 
animals  had  passed  along  after  the  camp. 


OLD  FRIENDS  AND  NEW  59 

Jack  had  a  feeling  as  if  he  were  almost  home.  It 
seemed  funny  to  him  to  think  how  eager  he  was  to 
meet  all  the  brown-skinned  friends  that  he  had  left  so 
many  months  before,  and  how  much  pleasure  he  felt 
in  having  come  across  these  two  on  the  prairie.  Two 
hours  before  sun-down  they  began  to  see  horses 
dotted  over  the  hills  ahead  of  them  ;  and  a  little  later 
they  rode  out  into  a  broad  open  space  in  the  river 
bottom,  where  stood  a  circle  of  white  lodges,  which 
they  knew  was  the  Piegan  camp. 

"Where  do  you  suppose  Hugh  will  camp,  Heze- 
kiah?"  said  Jack,  as  he  ran  his  eye  over  the  lodges, 
each  one  of  which  looked  like  every  other  lodge.  It 
was  evident  that  he  could  tell  nothing  by  looking  at  the 
lodges,  and  he  must  look  for  the  horses;  and  just  as 
Hezekiah  replied,  he  thought  he  saw  old  Baldy  tied 
in  front  of  a  lodge  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  circle. 

"Why,  I  reckon  he'll  camp  with  Joe's  people, 
Master  Jack,"  said  Hezekiah.  "That's  the  Fat 
Roasters,  you  know,  and  they're  over  there  across  the 
circle.  I  reckon  that's  the  old  man  now,  drivin' 
pins  for  the  lodge." 

"Yes,  that's  it,  Hezekiah,"  said  Jack:  "I  see  him 
now.  I"ll  ride  over  there  and  get  rid  of  my  meat,  and 
sometime  to-night  or  to-morrow  I  hope  to  come  to 
your  lodge." 

"  Please  do,  Master  Jack,  and  we'll  be  mighty  glad 
to  see  you.  I  want  to  have  you  see  the  childern,  too; 
they've   grown  a  heap  since  you  was  here  last." 

As  Jack  stopped  in  front  of  the  lodge,  Hugh  looked 
up  from  his  task  and  said,  "Well,  you've  got  here  all 
ricjht,  son.     Killed  somcthin*  too,  I  reckon." 


6o  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

**  Yes,"  said  Jack,  "  I  killed  a  barren  doe,  and  I 
reckon  we've  got  meat  enough  to  keep  us  going  for  a 
few  days.  I  gave  the  shoulders  to  Bull  Calf  and 
Hezekiah,  whom  I  met  out  here  on  the  prairie,  but 
I've  got  the  hams  here.  Shall  I  turn  Pawnee  loose, 
or  shall  I  tie  him  up  here  by  old  Baldy?" 

"Better  tie  him  up  here,"  said  Hugh.  "  I  want  to 
make  arrangements  with  some  young  fellow  to  herd 
our  horses;  Joe's  gone  off  now  to  try  to  do  that. 
We've  got  the  lodge  up,  and  now  pretty  quick  we'll 
have  a  fire  and  cook  supper." 

The  news  of  the  arrival  of  the  strangers  had  already 
spread  through  the  camp,  and  that  night  Hugh  and 
Jack  and  Joe  were  invited  to  feasts  at  several  lodges. 
They  saw  many  of  their  friends  :  old  John  Monroe, 
Little  Plume,  Last  Bull,  and  of  course  Fox  Eye,  and 
many  others.  Old  Iron  Shirt  came  around  to  their 
lodge,  and  shook  hands  cordially  with  Jack,  from 
whom  he  accepted  a  plug  of  tobacco  and  a  red  silk 
handkerchief.  It  was  late  before  the  festivities  were 
over,  and  when  they  turned  into  their  blankets  they 
were  soon  asleep. 

While  they  were  at  breakfast  next  morning,  Jack 
told  Hugh  about  the  sheep  that  he  had  seen  on  the 
prairie  the  day  before,  and  how  he  had  been  about  to 
kill  the  old  ewe,  and  then  had  thought  it  better  not 
to  do  so. 

"You  did  just  right,  son,"  said  Hugh;  "I've  said 
to  you  a  good  many  times  never  to  kill  anytliing  that 
you  don't  want,  and  can't  use,  and  I  believe  that's  the 
way  to  do.  You  were  right  not  to  kill  the  old  ewe 
also  because  she  wouldn  't  have  been   good   for  any. 


OLD  FRIENDS  AND  NEW  6i 

thing;  she'd  have  been  poor  from  suckling  her  lamb, 
and  you'd  have  just  killed  her  without  getting  any 
good  out  of  it.  Besides  that,  the  lamb  would  have 
starved  to  death  if  you  hadn't  killed  it,  and  if  you 
had  killed  it  it  wouid  'nt  have  been  no  good.  No,  you 
did  right ;  you  used  good  sense,  and  I  like  men,  or 
boys  either,  to  use  sense." 

"  Well,  Hugh,  I'm  glad  I  didn't  shoot.  Of  course, 
maybe  I  would  n't  have  killed  the  ewe  anyhow,  but 
I'd  have  tried.  But  what  I  wanted  to  ask  you  about 
was  what  those  sheep  were  doing  down  there  on  the 
prairie.  I  supposed  that  sheep  only  lived  on  high 
mountains,  or  else  in  the  very  roughest  kind  of  bad- 
lands. They  're  called  Rocky  Mountain  sheep  ;  that 
ought  to  mean  that  they  live  in  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains." 

"  Well  now,  son,  you're  like  a  good  many  people 
that  think  that  sheep  ain't  found  anywhere  except  in 
the  mountains,  but  that's  a  big  mistake.  In  old  times 
sheep  were  found  on  the  prairie  just  about  as  much  as 
they  were  found  in  the  mountains.  I  expect  they 
were  always  in  the  mountains,  and  in  old  times  they 
were  always  on  the  prairie  too.  It  has  got  so  now 
that  they're  pretty  scarce  on  the  prairie,  because  so 
many  people  traveling  around  all  the  time  shoot  at 
them  ;  but  in  old  times  it  was  no  uncommon  sight  to 
see  sheep  feeding  right  in  among  the  buffalo,  and  we 
often  used  to  see  them  all  mixed  up  with  the  ante- 
lope, on  the  flat  prairie.  Of  course,  sheep  always  like 
to  be  somewhere  within  reach  of  the  buttes  or  mourw 
tains,  or  rough  bad-lands,  that  they  can  run  to  if  they 
get  scared,  but  as  for  them  not  being  on  the  prairie. 


62  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

the  way  some  people  think,  that's  all  a  mistake.  Up 
here  in  Montana,  and  in  Dakota  and  Nebraska  and 
Wyoming,  I  have  seen  them  on  the  prairie,  a  long 
way  from  any  hills.  Why,  IVe  even  seen  them  out 
in  the  sand-hills,  up  not  very  far  from  the  head  of  the 
Dismal  River,  and  south  of  the  Loup,  but  I  suppose 
they  came  from  up  the  Platte,  where  there  are  bad- 
lands and  buttes,  like  Scott's  Bluffs  and  Chimney  Rock. 
But  if  ever  people  tell  you  that  sheep  are  found  only 
among  the  rocks,  don't  you  believe  them.  I  know 
you  won't  after  to-day,  because  you  saw  them  on  the 
prairie  yourself." 

"Yes,  Hugh,  that's  so  ;  but  just  as  you  say,  they 
started  to  run  back  to  the  rocks  when  they  were 
scared." 

"  Why  son,  there's  no  better  sheep  country  in 
America  to-day,  I  believe,  than  within  a  day's  ride  of 
here.  You  take  the  Missouri  River  bad-lands,  and  the 
Little  Rockies,  the  Judith  Mountains,  the  Little  Belts, 
the  Moccasins,  and  the  Bear's  Paw  ;  they're  all  good 
sheep  countries,  and  always  have  been  ever  since  I've 
been  in  the  country;  and  I  reckon  if  you  ask  any  of 
the  old  Indians  they '11  tell  you  just  the  same  thing. 
Why,  years  and  years  ago,  before  the  Indians  got  bad, 
there  was  no  place  where  there  were  more  mountain 
sheep  than  right  along  the  Yellowstone,  where  the 
bluffs  don't  run  more  than  a  couple  of  hundred  feet 
high,  and  there's  a  flat  bottom  below  them,  and  just 
rolling  prairie  above," 

"  Well,  I  didn't  know  this  at  all,  Hugh,"  said  Jack, 
"  and  yesterday  when  I  saw  those  animals  on  that 
little  ridge,  I  could  not  believe  that  they  were  sheep. 


OLD  FRIENDS  AND  NEW  63 

I  thought  I  must  be  mistaken,  that  they  must  be  queer 
colored  antelope,  but  then  of  course  I  saw  the  sheep 
horns  and  I  knew  that  I  wasn't  mistaken." 

"There's  lots  to  learn  about  sheep  yet,  son ;  and 
you  and  I  are  not  the  only  people  that  don't  know 
much  about  them.  The  fact  is,  I  don't  believe  any- 
body knows  much  about  them. 

"  I  expect  there's  more  than  one  kind  of  sheep  in 
the  country,  too.  I  have  heard  about  a  white  sheep 
that  they  find  away  up  north  ;  and  then  a  great  many 
years  ago,  once  when  I  went  up  north  to  Peace  River, 
I  killed  a  sheep  that  was  pretty  nearly  black,  and  had 
black  horns.  I  never  saw  but  one  little  bunch  of 
them,  and  killed  one  out  of  it,  a  yearling  ewe  ;  she  was 
not  like  any  other  animal  I  ever  saw  before." 

Not  long  after  breakfast  Hugh  and  Jack  started 
out  to  make  a  round  of  the  camp,  and  to  call  upon 
their  friends.  As  tliey  were  passing  a  nice  new  lodge, 
a  tall,  slender,  straight  young  man  came  out  from  it, 
and  after  hesitating  a  moment  as  he  looked  at  them, 
walked  up  to  Hugh,  and  extending  his  hand,  said, 
"  How  d'ye  do,  Mr.  Johnson.  I  guess  you  don't  know 
me,  but  I've  heard  of  you  pretty  near  all  my  life.  I'm 
Billy  Jackson,  a  son  of  old  Thomas  Jackson,  whom 
you  may  have  known  a  long  way  back,  and  the 
nephew  of  John  Monroe." 

"  Why  yes,  sure,"  said  Hugh,  "  I've  heard  of  you, 
and  I  used  to  know  your  mother  right  well.  I'm  glad 
to  see  you.  Ain't  you  the  young  man  that  was  with 
General  Custer  in  the  Black  Hills,  and  afterwards 
scouted  for  Miles,  down  on  the  Yellowstone?  or  was 
it  your  brother  ?  I  thmk  you're  the  man." 


64  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

"  Yes,  I'm  the  man  "  said  Jackson.  "Bob  scouted  for 
Miles,  too,  and  we  both  did  a  good  deal  of  riding 
down  there  during  the  last  of  the  wars,  and  now  I've 
come  up  here  to  live  in  the  Piegan  camp." 

"  I'm  glad  to  see  you,"  said  Hugh.  "  Let  me  make 
you  acquainted  with  Jack  Danvers ;  he  and  I've  trav- 
eled together  now  for  two  or  three  years,  and  we 
spent  last  summer  here  in  Piegan  camp." 

Jack  and  Billy  Jackson  shook  hands  together,  and 
they  parted;  but  Hugh  asked  Jackson  to  come  round 
and  eat  with  them  that  night,  which  the  young  man 
said  he  would  do.  He  was  a  handsome  fellow,  lean 
and  active;  and  after  they  had  left  him  Hugh  said  to 
Jack,  "Take  notice  of  that  young  man,  and  if  you've 
occasion  to  go  on  the  prairie  with  him,  do  as  he  says. 
I've  heard  of  him  ;  he's  a  good  man,  brave,  and  knows 
the  prairie  well,  and,  at  the  same  time,  he  has  good 
sense,  and  isn't  likely  to  get  himself  or  his  friends 
into  any  trouble." 

At  Little  Plume's  lodge  they  were  made  very  wel- 
come. His  wife  had  apparently  thought  that  they 
would  come  around  that  day,  and  as  soon  as  they  sat 
down  in  the  lodge,  food  was  set  before  them  :  boiled 
buffalo  heart  and  back  fat,  and  berry  pemmican,  with 
stewed  service-berries,  made  a  tempting  feast,  and 
Jack  ate  heartily  of  it. 

Little  Plume  told  them  that  the  next  day  the  camp 
would  move  south,  and  they  hoped  that  before 
they  got  to  the  Musselshell,  or  if  not,  soon  after  cross- 
ing it,  they  would  find  buffalo.  Hereabouts  near  the 
Missouri,  there  were  but  few,  chiefly  bulls.  Further 
south,  between  the  Musselshell  and  the  Yellowstone, 


OLD  FRIENDS  AND  NEW  65 

scouts  had  reported  great  numbers  of  buffalo.  That 
evening,  Last  Bull,  Iron  Shirt,  and  Fox  Eye,  Jackson 
and  Little  Plume,  all  came  to  the  lodge,  and  they  had 
a  feast ;  and  after  all  had  eaten,  there  was  much  gen- 
eral conversation,  but  no  formal  speeches.  Much  of  the 
conversation  was  in  the  Piegan  tongue,  which  Jack  as 
yet  could  hardly  understand,  but  Jackson  talked  much 
to  him  in  English,  and  told  some  entertaining  stories. 
Among  them  was  one  of  an  adventure  that  he  had 
had  a  year  or  two  before,  only  a  short  distance  from 
where  they  were  now,  and  which  had  in  it  something 
of  humor,  and  a  little  of  danger.     Jackson  said  : 

"In  the  fall  of  1879,  Paul  Sandusky,  Jo  Hamilton 
and  I  built  our  winter  quarters  on  Flat  Willow  Creek, 
about  twenty  miles  east  of  the  Snowy  Mountains. 
The  country  was  then  still  infested  with  roving  war 
parties  from  the  different  tribes,  some  coming  from 
Sitting  Bull's  camp  on  the  Big  Bend  of  Milk  River. 

"As  we  intended  to  do  some  trading  with  the 
friendly  tribes,  especially  the  Crows  and  Blackfeet, 
we  built  commodious  quarters,  consisting  of  two 
buildings  facing  each  other  and  about  forty  feet 
apart,  and  containing  altogether  five  rooms.  Joining 
on  to  the  '  Fort  * —  as  we  called  it  —  we  constructed  a 
high  stockade  corral  for  the  horses. 

"  Game  of  all  kinds  was  very  plenty,  and  bands  of 
elk  and  antelope  could  be  seen  almost  daily  within  a 
mile  or  so  of  our  place.  Glad  to  have  company,  we 
gave  free  quarters  to  all  hunters  and  trappers  who 
cared  to  stop  with  us,  and  by  March  i  we  numbered 
eleven  men,  including  our  cook,  *  Nigger  Andy.' 

"A  few  hundred  yards  below  our  fort  a  little  creek, 


(^  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

which  we  named  Beaver  Castor,  joined  the  Flat  Wil- 
low.  For  some  miles  above  its  mouth  it  flowed 
through  a  deep  cut  in  the  prairie,  bordered  with  sage 
brush  and  willows.  At  its  junction  with  the  Flat 
Willow,  in  the  V  formed  by  the  two  creeks,  was  quite 
a  high  butte.  It  sloped  up  very  gently  from  the  Flat 
Willow  side,  but  was  almost  a  cut  bank  on  the 
Beaver  Castor  side. 

"  This  butte  was  our  watch  tower.  From  its  sum- 
mit we  could  see  miles  and  miles  of  the  surrounding 
country. 

"  One  morning  in  March  most  of  the  men  went  out 
antelope  hunting,  leaving  four  of  us  in  camp  —  Jo 
Healy,  laid  up  with  rheumatism  ;  Harry  Morgan,  the 
herder;  the  cook  and  myself.  About  ten  o'clock  this 
morning  I  concluded  to  take  a  hunt,  and  before  catch- 
ing up  a  horse  I  climbed  the  butte  to  see  if  I  could  spy 
a  band  of  elk  or  antelope  near  by.  As  soon  as  I 
reached  the  summit  I  saw  some  moving  forms  on  the 
prairie  not  far  off,  near  Beaver  Castor,  and  adjusting 
my  glass,  I  found  that  they  were  a  large  war  party 
of  Indians  afoot.  They  also  saw  me,  for  I  saw  sev- 
eral of  them  stop  and  level  their  telescope  at  me.  I 
took  pains  to  let  them  know  I  was  not  an  Indian,  for 
I  strutted  about  with  long  strides  and  faced  them 
with  arms  akimbo.  Finally,  as  they  came  close,  I 
backed  down  from  the  summit,  very  slowly,  and 
placing  a  buffalo  chip  on  top  of  a  bush,  so  as  to  make 
them  think  I  was  still  watching  them,  I  dashed  for 
the  fort. 

"  I  found  that  the  horse-herder  had   caught   up  ar» 
animal  and  gone  out   hunting  ;  so  grabbing  a  lariat  I 


OLD  FRIENDS  AND  NEW  67 

ran  out  to  drive  in  the  band,  which  was  grazing 
nearly  a  mile  from  the  house.  I  went  down  as  fast 
as  I  could  run,  but  found  that  I  could  n't  get  within 
roping  distance  of  a  single  animal.  They  had  been  in 
the  corral  all  night  as  usual,  and  in  spite  of  my  efforts 
they  kept  straggling  and  feeding  along,  and  every 
minute  I  expected  the  war  party  to  swoop  down  on 
me.  However,  I  finally  got  them  home  and  into  the 
corral,  and,  my  clothing  wet  with  perspiration,  I  sat 
down  to  get  my  wind. 

•'  In  the  meantime  Andy  had  not  been  idle.  He 
had  placed  all  our  spare  arms  and  ammunition  by  the 
loopholes,  had  dragged  Healy,  bed  and  all,  to  a  place 
of  vantage,  where  he  could  shoot  without  hurting  his 
rheumatic  legs,  and  had  then  gone  on  preparing  our 
dinner.  So  we  waited  and  watched,  expecting  every 
minute  to  be  attacked.  But  no  Indians  came.  We 
had  our  dinner,  and  as  the  afternoon  passed  the  boys 
kept  straggling  in  by  ones  and  twos,  until  by  five  all 
were  home.     None  of  them  had  seen  any  Indians. 

**  Finally  I  proposed  that  two  or  three  of  us  get  our 
horses  and  make  a  reconnoissance. 

*'  *  We  don't  want  no  horses,'  said  Sagebrush  Charlie, 
'just  you  and  me  go  up  on  the  butte  and  take  a  look 
from  there.' 

"  I  didn't  like  the  proposition,  for  I  surmised  that 
the  war  party  were  concealed  in  the  brush  on  Beaver 
Castor,  probably  near  the  butte.  But  on  the  other 
hand  I  didn't  care  to  be  bluffed,  so  I  went  with  him. 

"As  we  neared  the  top  of  the  butte  we  proceeded 
very  cautiously,  moving  only  a  step  at  a  time.  Only 
a  few  yards  more    and  we  would    have  reached    %ke 


68  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

summit,  when  we  saw  that  an  Indian  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  butte  was  looking  at  us.  We  could  see 
nothing  of  him  but  his  head,  and  of  course  he  could 
see  only  our  heads.  Thus  we  stood  facing  each  other 
for  what  to  me  seemed  a  long  time.  '  Shall  we 
shoot?' asked  Sagebrush.  *  No,'  I  replied.  'If  we 
advance  to  shoot  he  will  have  the  best  of  it,  and  if  he 
advances  we  will  have  the  edge  on  him.*  So  we  con- 
tinued to  stare  at  him.  After  a  while  I  saw  that  the 
Indian  was  beginning  to  back  down  out  of  sight,  so  I 
did  the  same.  I  made  only  a  step  and  he  had  disap- 
peared, but  I  kept  backing  away,  watching  the  top  of 
the  butte,  with  rifle  cocked  ready  to  shoot  in  an  in- 
stant. When  half  way  down  I  turned  to  run  and  saw 
Sagebrush  just  disappearing  around  the  corner  of  the 
fort.  Until  then  I  had  supposed  that  he  was  at  my 
side.  So  calling  him  some  names  I  fairly  flew  down 
the  hill,  expecting  every  minute  to  have  a  shower  of 
bullets  about  my  ears.  But  I  too  reached  the  fort 
without  any  sign  from  the  enemy. 

"  When  I  got  inside  I  found  the  boys  joking  Sage- 
brush about  leaving  me,  and  seeing  that  he  was 
ashamed  of  himself  I  said  nothing  to  him,  although  I 
was  quite  angry. 

"  As  soon  as  it  was  dark  we  put  on  a  double  guard, 
and  kept  ourselves  in  readiness  for  an  attack.  Late 
in  the  evening  we  concluded  that  the  Indians  would 
make  a  daylig  t  raid  on  us,  so  we  arranged  about 
guard  duty  and  slept  by  turns.  However,  we  heard 
nothing  of  our  dusky  friends,  and  at  six  o'clock  the 
cook  called  breakfast  as  usual.  The  horses  had  now 
been  in  the  corral  nearly  twenty-four  hours  and  were 


OLD  FRIENDS  AND  NEW  69 

very  hungry,  so  four  of  us  saddled  up  and  went  out 
to  make  a  big  circle  and  find  out  if  our  friends  had 
left  us.  We  went  down  Flat  Willow  a  mile  or  more, 
then  swung  up  onto  the  prairie,  crossed  Beaver  Cas- 
tor and  headed  home,  but  could  see  no  Indian  signs. 
Finally  we  went  up  on  top  of  the  butte,  where  Sage 
brush  and  I  had  seen  the  Indian  the  night  before. 
There  in  the  loose  shale  we  found  his  tracks,  and  saw 
that  after  backing  down  a  little  ways  he  had,  like  us, 
turned  and  run  by  mighty  leaps  to  the  bottom.  There 
we  found  a  great  number  of  tracks  and  a  lot  of  moc- 
casins, some  meat,  etc.,  and  following  the  trail  we 
found  that  the  Indians  had  crossed  Beaver  Castor  and 
gone  up  on  the  prairie,  where  in  the  thick  dry  grass 
we  lost  all  traces  of  them,  and  concluding  that 
they  had  left  we  went  home  and  turned  the  horses 
out  to  feed,  with  a  herder  and  one  other  man  to  herd 
them. 

"  After  dinner,  perhaps  two  or  three  o'clock,  we  saw 
a  person  on  foot  come  down  to  the  creek  from  the 
prairie,  about  half  a  mile  below  the  house.  I  went 
down  to  see  who  it  was,  and  found  to  my  surprise  that 
it  was  a  lone  Indian  woman,  and  as  soon  as  I  came  up 
to  her  she  began  to  talk  to  me  in  a  language  which  I 
at  once  knew  to  be  Nez  Perces,  but  which  I  could  not 
understand.  I  replied  to  her  in  Sioux,  and  found 
that  she  understood  and  could  speak  a  little  of  that 
tongue,  and  by  piecing  it  out  with  signs  we  got  along 
very  well.  I  told  her  to  go  up  to  the  fort  with  me 
and  get  something  to  eat,  and  afterward  she  could  tell 
us  her  story.  When  we  reached  the  place  the  boys  all 
crowded  around  and  stared  at  her,  and  asked  all  sorts 


•JO  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

of  questions,  but  I  told  them  to  wait,  and  we  would 
hear  what  she  had  to  say. 

"The  woman  didn't  seem  to  be  at  all  embarrassed. 
She  sat  at  the  table  and  calmly  and  slowly  ate  the 
food  the  cook  set  before  her,  not  heeding  the  ten  or 
eleven  pairs  of  eyes  that  were  intently  watching  her. 
After  she  had  finished  eating  I  asked  her  to  tell  us 
where  she  had  come  from,  where  she  was  going  and 
all  about  herself,  and  I  interpreted  her  tale,  sentence 
by  sentence,  to  the  boys.  She  said :  '  I  came  from 
Sitting  Bull's  camp  on  Mi'k  River,  where  some  of  my 
people,  Nez  Percys,  are  living  with  the  Sioux.  Two 
years  ago,  my  son  went  with  some  Sioux  and  Nez 
Percys  to  war  against  the  Crows.  They  had  a  big 
fight  on  the  Yellowstone,  and  it  was  supposed  that 
my  son  was  killed.  But  not  long  ago  I  heard  that  the 
Crows  had  captured  my  boy,  and  that  he  is  still  living 
and  in  the  Crow  camp.  Having  no  relatives  and  no 
husband,  I  made  up  my  mind  to  go  and  live  with  my 
son,  and  started  out;  this  is  the  twenty-third  day  since 
I  left  Milk  River.  I  have  been  starved  most  of  the 
time  and  am  very  tired.' 

"  '  Hush  ! '  said  one  of  the  boys,  '  That's  too  durned 
thin.     I  move  that  we  hang  her  right  now.' 

"At  this,  every  one  began  to  talk  at  once.  Some 
said  she  was  a  spy,  others  that  she  was  all  right. 

"Finally  I  said  to  her,  'The  boys,  some  of  them, 
think  you  are  not  telling  the  truth.  Yesterday  a  big 
war  party  was  here,  and  they  think  you  belong  to  that 
outfit.' 

"' How  they  lie,'  she  interposed.  •!  haven't  seen 
an  Indian  since  I  left  Milk  River.' 


OLD  FRIENDS  AND  NEW  /i 

"'That  may  be,'  I  replied,  'you  cannot  blame  the 
boys  for  being  a  little  suspicious.  However,  they  will 
not  harm  you.  You  are  as  safe  here  as  you  would  be 
among  your  own  people.  Just  as  soon  as  this  snow 
goes,  one  of  our  men  will  start  for  the  Yellowstone 
with  a  four-horse  team  after  some  provisions,  and  you 
can  go  with  him.  From  there  it  is  only  a  sliort  dis- 
tance to  the  Crow  camp.  In  the  meantime  you  can 
stay  with  us  here  and  rest  up.  Throw  off  your  robe 
and  make  yourself  at  home.' 

"'  I  like  what  you  say,'  she  replied,  'but  I  am  afraid 
of  all  these  men.     Let  me  stay  close  by  you.* 

"  Wherever  I  went  that  afternoon  she  followed  me, 
and  when  it  came  time  to  turn  in  I  made  her  a  bed  of 
buffalo  robes  behind  the  counter.  Some  of  the  boys 
spread  down  in  the  room  and  others  in  the  cook 
house. 

"'  I  don't  like  this,'  the  woman  said  to  me,  'I  am 
afraid  to  sleep  there  ;  let  me  make  my  bed  down  beside 
yours.* 

"  '  Don't  fear,*  I  replied,  *  no  harm  will  come  to  you. 
No  one  in  this  place  cares  for  you  or  wishes  to  harm 
you,' 

" '  Well,  then,'  she  said,  '  if  that  is  so  I  will  step  out 
a  minute  and  then  go  to  bed.' 

"  Now  tlie  door  to  tiiis  room  was  fastened  from  the 
inside,  when  we  wished  it,  by  two  wooden  bars  ;  out- 
side we  closed  it  merely  by  a  rawhide  thong  and  pin. 
Some  of  us  were  always  at  home,  and  when  we  all  left 
this  room  we  fastened  the  door  with  the  thong  to 
keep  the  dogs  and  the  cold  air  out.  As  the  woman 
started  to  go  out  I  went  up  to  the  counter  and  took 


72  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

my  six-shooter,  intending  to  follow  her  out,  but 
quicker  than  a  flash  she  darted  through  the  door,  and 
closed  and  fastened  it  with  the  thong  and  pin.  Of 
course  all  the  boys  in  the  room  made  a  rush,  and  two 
of  us  getting  our  fingers  between  the  door  and  the 
jamb  gave  a  strong  jerk,  snapped  the  fastening  and 
we  all  ran  out.  The  woman  had  disappeared  in  the 
darkness,  but  we  could  still  hear  her  footsteps  as  she 
ran  toward  the  brush.  Suddenly  she  gave  a  peculiar 
kind  of  a  whistle  and  from  all  around  in  the  brush  she 
was  answered  by  the  hooting  of  owls.  We  all  rushed 
back  into  the  fort,  put  out  the  lights  and  made  ready 
for  an  attack. 

"  After  an  hour  or  so  the  boys  began  to  talk.  *  I 
knowed,'  said  one,  *  that  she  was  a  spy.' 

** '  Didn't  I  say  to  hang  her,'  exclaimed  another. 
*You  fellers  that  thought  she  was  all  right  are  sure 
soft.' 

*'  We  all  sat  up  until  long  after  daylight,  and  not 
until  eight  or  nine  o'clock  did  any  one  turn  in.  But 
we  were  not  attacked,  nor  did  we  see  the  woman 
again. 

"  Several  weeks  afterward,  when  Hamilton  went  to 
the  Yellowstone  after  supplies,  he  learned  that  this 
woman  had  stopped  at  the  'Circle  N  '  ranch  and  that 
theis  had  lost  one  hundred  and  forty  horses." 


CHAPTER  V 

BUFFALO  HUNTING  WITH  THE  BLACKFEET 

Early  next  morning  the  camp  was  in  motion,  and 
they  travelled  south  all  day,  making  a  long  march. 
Hugh  left  the  pack  horses  in  charge  of  Fox  Eye's 
people,  who  drove  them  along  with  their  own,  while 
he  and  Jack  and  Joe  joined  the  flankers,  who  marched 
off  to  one  side,  and  who  killed  a  few  antelope,  a  few 
bulls,  and  hunted  out  the  stream  bottoms  that  they 
passed.  Each  day  these  hunters  killed  just  about 
fresh  meat  enough  to  support  the  camp,  which  as  yet 
had  plenty  of  dried  meat,  so  that  there  was  no  suffer- 
ing. That  night  Hugh  told  Jack  that  the  next  day 
they  would  strike  the  Musselshell,  and  very  likely 
buffalo,  but  if  not,  they  would  cross  the  river  and 
move  on  down  toward  the  Yellowstone,  where,  on  the 
Dry  Fork,  or  Porcupine,  they  would  be  sure  to  get 
what  they  wanted. 

**  We  can't  stop  very  long  with  these  people,  son," 
he  said  ;  "  not  if  we're  going  into  the  mountains,  and 
going  to  work  our  way  dowji  through  them  back  to 
the  ranch.  Of  course  we've  got  lots  of  time,  but 
then  we  don't  want  to  stay  up  here  too  long,  and  be 
rushed  at  the  last,  so  that  we'll  have  to  hurry  along 
and  make  our  horses  poor,  and  keep  ourselves  tired  all 
the  time.     We  can  stop  here  for  a  while  and  kill   buf- 


74  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

falo,  and  then  we  '11  leave  the  people,  and  strike  west 
into  the  mountains." 

The   next  nigiit  they    camped  on  the  Musselshell, 
and  word  was  brought  that  about  twenty  or  twenty- 
five  miles  to  the  south  buffalo  were  plenty.     Orders 
were  given    that    from    now   on    no  one  should    kill 
buffalo,  and  camp  was  moved  a  day's  march  still  further 
south,  to  the  neighborhood  of  the  herd.    The  next  day 
a  bunch  of  buffalo  was  located  in  a  place  suitable  for  a 
surround.     That    night   the   old   crier,  as   usual,   rode 
around  through  the  camp,  telling  all  the  people  to  get 
in   their   horses,  to  tie  up   their  running  horses  close, 
ordering  the  women  to  sharpen  their  knives,  and  the 
men  to  whet  their  arrow-points,  because  the  next  day 
they    were    going  to    chase  buffalo.      The   following 
morning,  very  early.  Jack  heard  him  shouting  through 
the  camp,  calling  to  the  people  to  "  Get  up  !  get  up  !  " 
It  was  still  black   night ;   the  stars  shone  brilliantly  in 
the    sky,  the   light   of   the    fire    showed    through   the 
lodge-skins,  and    sparks  were  rising  with    the  smoke, 
when   Jack  went   out   to  saddle   up  Pawnee.      Hugh 
had  had  offers  of  buffalo  runners  from  several  of  his 
friends.     Last  Bull  had  asked  him  to  ride  the  spotted 
horse  that  he  had  several  times  used  the  year  before, 
while  Jackson  had  pressed  upon  him  a  beautiful  buck- 
skin   that   he  declared  was  the  best  buffalo  horse  in 
the  camp.     The  excitement  which  always  precedes  a 
buffalo    chase    pervaded    the    camp,  and    every    one 
seemed   to  be  hurrying  in   the  performance  of  what- 
ever task  was  at  hand.     It  was  still  long  before  day- 
light when  Jack  and   Hugh,  following  the  men  who 
were  starting  out,  found  at  a  little  distance  from  the 


BUFFALO  HUNTING  75 

camp  the  group  of  hunters  who  were  being  held  there 
by  the  soldiers. 

The  sky  was  just  becoming  gray  in  the  east  when 
the  soldiers  started  off,  and  the  hunters  followed  ;  and 
just  after  the  sun  had  risen,  the  halt  was  made  behind 
a  hill  which  hid  the  herd  from  them.  After  a  little 
pause,  and  a  few  low-voiced  directions,  horses  were 
changed,  the  line  spread  out,  and  at  first  going  slowly, 
rode  up  to  the  crest  of  the  hill,  pushed  over  it,  and 
hurried  down  toward  the  unfrightened  buffalo.  These 
were  slow  to  see  their  enemies,  and  the  horsemen 
were  close  to  them  before  the  herd  got  started.  Jack 
held  back  Pawnee  until  the  word  came  for  the  charge, 
and  even  after  that  he  still  restrained  him,  not  wish- 
ing him  to  run  too  hard  at  first,  for  the  horse  was  fat, 
and  might  lose  his  wind  if  pushed  at  the  start. 

He  gave  no  thought  to  the  whereabouts  of  his 
friends;  Joe  and  Hugh  would  no  doubt  take  care  of 
themselves.  Just  before  he  overtook  the  last  of  the 
bulls,  however,  he  was  aware  of  a  man  riding  close  to 
him,  and  turning  saw  Billy  Jackson,  riding  the  little 
buckskin,  without  a  saddle,  and  carrying  in  his  hands 
a  bow  and  some  arrows,  while  he  had  a  quiver  on  his 
back. 

Jack  laughed  at  him.  and  signed  to  him  that  he  was 
armed  with  good  weapons,  and  Jackson  nodded.  A 
moment  later  they  were  mixed  up  with  the  dust  of 
the  flying  herd,  and  surrounded  by  buffalo,  and  Jack 
bent  his  energies  to  killing  a  couple  of  cows.  The 
bulls  were  soon  passed,  and  Pawnee,  running  free  and 
easily,  forged  up  to  the  cows.  Two  fat  ones  were 
running  just  ahead  of   him,    lumbering  heavily,  and 


76  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

with  their  tongues  out,  yet  getting  over  the  ground 
with  surprising  speed.  He  drew  up  alongside  of  one, 
and  shot  it,  and  it  turned  a  somersault ;  then  touch- 
ing Pawnee  with  his  heel,  he  was  soon  riding  close  to 
another,  which  also  he  killed  by  a  single  shot.  Then 
turning,  he  rode  back  to  the  last  cow,  and  looked  at 
her.     She  was  quite  dead. 

The  task  of  butchering  seemed  rather  a  heavy  one, 
but  he  went  to  the  cow  first  shot,  and,  with  some  trou- 
ble split  her  down  the  belly,  and  then  re-mounting^ 
went  back  to  the  other  cow,  which  he  treated  in  the 
same  way.  Then  he  sat  down  on  the  ground  in  the 
shade  of  his  horse,  and  waited. 

An  hour  later  the  women  and  girls  and  children 
were  seen  coming  over  the  hills  with  their  travois,  and 
scattering  out  to  look  at  the  dead  buffalo,  over  many 
of  which  men  who  had  returned  were  now  working. 
When  Fox  Eye's  family  came  along.  Jack  spoke  to 
the  wife,  and  made  her  understand  that  ther.e  two 
were  his  buffalo,  and  with  two  of  the  other  women 
she  set  about  skinning  and  cutting  them  up. 

That  night  in  the  lodge,  as  they  were  getting  ready 
for  bed,  Hugh  said  to  Jack,  "Son,  have  you  ever  been 
through  this  country  before?  Do  you  see  anything 
that  you  recognize?" 

"Why  yes,  Hugh,  of  course,  we  came  through  it 
last  year  when  we  were  coming  north,  but  I  haven't 
seen  anything  to-day  that  I  knew." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  I'm  not  very  much  surprised 
at  that,  but  right  along  here  somewhere  is  where  we 
passed  last  year,  the  second  or  third  day  after  we 
crossed  the  Yellowstone  River,  coming  north.     Now, 


BUFFALO  HUNTING  t^ 

I  ain't  never  forgot  that  sheep's  head  that  we  left  up 
in  the  tree  down  there.  As  I  told  you  then,  it's  a 
better  head  than  most,  and  likely  a  better  one  than 
you'll  ever  kill  again,  and  I  was  thinking  that  it 
would  n't  be  a  bad  idea  for  you  and  me  to  ride  down 
there  and  get  it.  We  can  go  in  a  day,  and  come  back 
in  another,  and  we  can  easily  enough  carry  the  head 
with  us,  and  take  it  back  to  the  ranch.     What  do  you 


say 


?" 


"Why,  sure  Hugh;"  said  Jack,  "I'd  like  to  do 
that  mighty  well.  I've  always  felt  sorry  that  we  lost 
that  sheep  head,  and  felt  that  I  wanted  it  to  take 
back  east.  I  never  thought  of  our  getting  it  this 
year;  in  fact  I  never  expected  to  see  it  again.  I'd 
like  very  much  to  get  it,  if  you  feel  like  it." 

"  Well,  say  we  do  it.  We  can  start  to-morrow  or 
next  day  ;  the  Indians  '11  be  here  now  two  or  three 
days  at  least,  killing  and  drying  meat,  and  we  can 
easily  enough  go  there,  and  come  back  and  catch 
them  before  they  leave  these  parts.  You  and  I  can 
go  alone,  or  we  can  take  Joe  ;  or  if  you  like,  we  can 
ask  anybody  else  that  we  want  to  go  down  there  with 
us.   It  '11  be  a  nice  little  trip." 

So  it  was  arranged  that  within  a  day  or  two  they 
should  start  for  the  Yellowstone  River,  to  get  the 
sheep's  head. 

It  was  the  second  day  after  that  they  finally  got 
away.  Joe  wanted  to  go  with  them,  and  when  they 
told  Jackson  what  they  intended  doing,  he  said  that 
he  too  would  like  to  go.  This  made  a  party  of  four 
capable  men,  to  whom  no  danger  could  come.  They 
took  a  couple  of   pack  horses,  to   carry  their  bedding 


78  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

and  provisions,  but  no  shelter,  for  the  weather  was 
bright  and  dry,  and  there  seemed  no  prospect  of  rain. 
On  their  way  to  the  Yellowstone  they  rode  con^ 
stantly  through  buffalo  and  antelope,  tame  and  unsus- 
picious, and  just  moving  aside  from  the  track  of  the 
travellers  as  they  passed  along.  That  night  they 
camped  on  the  little  stream  just  where  Jack  had 
killed  the  sheep,  and  reaching  camp  before  sundown, 
Hugh  and  Jack  rode  up  the  stream  to  the  tree  where 
the  sheep's  head  had  been  placed,  took  it  down  and 
brought  it  to  camp.  The  ashes  of  the  fire  of  the  year 
before,  and  the  bones  of  the  sheep  from  which  they 
had  cut  the  meat  called  up  old  memories.  Even  the 
places  where  the  lines  had  been  tied  for  drying  the 
meat  were  remembered. 

Jack  was  glad  enough  to  get  this  head  again.  As 
Hugh  had  said,  it  was  a  very  fine  one.  The  great 
horns  swung  around  in  more  than  a  complete  curve, 
and  although  near  the  base  they  were  more  or  less 
bruised  and  battered  by  the  battles  the  old  ram  had 
fought,  the  tips  of  the  horns  were  very  nearly  perfect. 
The  skin  of  the  head  and  neck  had  been  picked  by  the 
birds  and  bleached  by  the  weather,  and  Hugh  said  ; 
**  I'm  not  sure  that  it  will  do  to  use  in  covering  the 
skull,  son  ;  but  even  if  it  is  too  hard  and  sunburned  to 
make  anything  out  of,  I'd  take  it  along.  If  we  get 
another  good  ram  on  the  trip  you  can  take  his  scalp; 
but  if  we  don't,  maybe  the  man  that  puts  up  your 
head  can  make  something  out  of  this." 

The  next  morning  before  starting  back,  they  rode 
down  to  the  Yellowstone  River,  and  looked  up  and 
down  the  valley.     There  were  some  buffalo  here  too, 


BUFFALO  HUNTING  79 

and  a  few  elk;  but  there  was  nothing  to  keep  them, 
and  they  turned  about  and  returned  to  the  Piegan 
camp,  which  they  reached  that  night. 

For  some  days  longer  the  camp  remained  here,  kill- 
ing buffalo  and  drying  the  meat.  Then  they  moved 
east,  one  day's  journey,  to  another  little  stream,  and 
again  hunted  from  here.  By  this  time  many  buffalo 
had  been  killed,  and  many  robes  made.  The  par- 
fleches  were  full  of  dried  meat  and  back  fat ;  and  now 
presently  the  chiefs  began  to  consult  as  to  whether 
they  should  not  go  north  again  to  the  neighborhood 
of  the  mountains,  for  the  women  wished  to  gather 
roots  and  berries  for  the  winter. 

One  evening  when  Jack  came  in  from  the  hunt  he 
saw  a  great  crowd  of  people,  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren, gathered  just  outside  of  the  circle.  They 
seemed  to  be  having  a  good  time,  for  shouts  of 
laughter  and  shrill  screams  from  the  women  told  that 
something  was  happening  which  amused  them  all. 

Riding  up  to  the  edge  of  the  crowd.  Jack  saw  in  the 
midst  of  it  a  little  buffalo  calf,  standing  there  with  its 
head  down  and  tail  in  the  air,  facing  with  very  deter- 
mined attitude  two  or  three  small  boys  who  were  try- 
ing to  approach  and  get  hold  of  it.  Every  now  and 
then  one  of  the  little  fellows  would  get  up  liis  courage 
and  venture  close  to  the  calf's  head,  when  the  calf 
would  charge  him  and  the  boy  would  jump  out  of  the 
way  ;  but  just  as  Jack  came  to  a  place  where  lie  could 
see,  one  of  the  boys  went  slowly  forward  toward  the 
calf,  and  just  as  the  calf  began  to  charge,  one  of  the 
boy's  companions  gave  him  a  push  forward,  so  that 
instead  of   dodging    the    calf   he  met  its  charge,  and 


8o  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

was  knocked  sprawling  on  the  ground.  Then  every- 
body screamed  with  laughter,  and  the  boy  scrambled 
out  of  the  way  as  fast  as  he  could. 

At  one  side  of  the  ring  of  people,  Jackson  was 
standing,  evidently  much  amused  at  what  was  going 
on.  Jack  called  out  to  him,  "  What  are  they  doing, 
Billy  ?  " 

"  Why,  I  roped  this  calf  to-day  and  brought  him  in 
to  try  to  take  him  back  to  the  river,  where  there  are 
some  cows,  and  raise  him,  but  some  of  these  small 
boys  got  bothering  and  teasing  him,  and  I  told  them 
if  they  didn't  let  him  alone  I'd  turn  him  loose,  and  let 
him  take  care  of  himself,  and  now  it  seems  to  me  he's 
doing  it  pretty  well ;  he's  knocked  a  half  dozen  of  'em 
out  of  time  already,  and  once  in  a  while,  if  he  gets 
real  mad,  he  charges  into  the  crowd,  and  I  tell  you 
they  scatter." 

The  fun  went  on  for  a  little  while  longer,  and  then 
Jackson,  after  speaking  to  the  people,  put  a  rope 
about  the  calf's  neck,  and  with  the  assistance  of  two 
young  men,  dragged  it  away  to  his  lodge,  where  it 
was  picketed  to  a  stake  firmly  driven  into  the  ground. 

That  night,  Joe  said  to  Jack,  "  Say,  Jack,  do  you 
want  to  see  some  fun  to-morrow  ?  " 

"Of  course  I  do,"  said  Jack.  "  I  always  want  to  be 
around  when  there's  any  fun  going  on." 

"  Well,"  said  Joe,  "  there's  going  to  be  some  fun 
to-morrow;  at  least  I  think  there  is.  Some  of  the 
young  men  have  been  making  fun  of  Eagle  Ribs; 
they  say  tiiat  there's  something  he  dare  not  do  ;  to 
jump  from  his  horse  to  the  back  of  a  bull,  and  ride  it. 
When  they  said  that,  Eagle  Ribs  said,  '  Why  do  you 


BUFFALO  HUNTING  8l 

talk  about  doing  that  ?  You  should  talk  about  soma 
thing  that  is  really  dangerous.  I  should  not  be  afraid 
to  jump  on  a  bull's  back  and  ride  him;  but  it's  too 
easy:  I  do  not  care  to  do  little  things  like  that.  It 
would  be  a  trouble  to  me,  and  could  not  do  any  one 
any  good.'  The  others  kept  teasing  hiin,  and  making 
fun  of  him,  and  at  last,  after  they  had  bothered  him  a 
good  deal,  Eagle  Ribs  said,  *  It  will  be  a  little  trouble 
to  do  this,  but  if  you  want  to  see  me  I  will  do  it.  I 
will  ride  a  bull ;  the  fastest  and  strongest  that  I  can 
choose.  Watch  me  to-morrow,  and  see  whether  I  do 
it  or  not.'  So  to-morrow  we're  all  going  together,  to 
see  whether  Eagle  Ribs  will  ride  the  bull." 

"  But  isn't  there  danger  that  the  bull  will  throw  him 
ofT,  and  catch  him  and  kill  him  ?" 

"No,"  said  Joe,  "I  guess  he  can  stick  to  it;  or,  if 
he  can't  do  that,  why  he'll  have  to  be  quick  on  his 
feet  if  the  bull  does  throw  him  ;  they  can't  turn  very 
quickly,  you  know,  and  Eagle  Ribs,  if  he's  smart,  can 
get  around  and  keep  out  of  the  way  of  his  horns. 
Besides  that,  there'll  be  a  lot  of  us  there,  and  we  can 
tease  the  bull,  and  get  him  to  chase  us,  if  Eagle  Ribs 
should  be  in  any  danger." 

"Well,"  said  Jack,  **  it's  going  to  be  a  regular 
circus,  I  guess,  and  I'll  have  to  be  there." 

"  Yes,"  said  Joe,  "  you  want  to  be  there  if  you  can ; 
and  a  lot  of  us  young  fellows  are  going  to  keep  pretty 
close  together,  and  I  think  we'll  have  a  real  good 
time,  even  if  we  don't  kill  any  buffalo.  The  camp 
has  got  about  all  the  meat  now  it  wants,  anyhow." 

The  next  morning  before  the  chase  began,  Jack 
and  Joe  found   themselves  among  a  lot  of  boys  about 


Z2  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

their  own  age,  many  of  whom  were  making  fun  of  and 
teasing  Eagle  Ribs.  When  the  chase  started  the 
boys  did  not  ride  as  usual  to  try  to  catch  cows,  but 
instead  of  that  singled  out  some  old  bulls  that  made 
up  the  rear  of  the  herd,  and  turned  them  off  on  to 
the  prairie. 

Then  they  all  began  to  whoop  and  yell,  and  call  out 
Eagle  Ribs'  name,  and  say  to  him,  "  Now  is  the  time 
to  show  us  what  you  can  do.  Here  is  your  horse; 
now  ride  him."  Eagle  Ribs  was  riding  a  good  horse, 
and  at  once  accepted  the  challenge.  He  pressed  the 
animal  close  up  to  a  bull,  and  when  he  was  so  near 
that  his  horse's  side  almost  touched  the  buffalo's  side, 
he  reached  far  forward,  grasped  the  long  hair  on  the 
buffalo's  hump,  and  threw  himself  from  his  horse 
onto  the  bull's  back.  The  bull  was  frightened,  and 
for  a  few  minutes  it  ran  faster  than  all  the  horses  ; 
and  then  forgetting  that  it  was  being  chased,  and  only 
anxious  to  get  rid  of  the  terrible  burden  that  it  was 
carrying,  it  stopped,  and  began  to  plunge  and  buck, 
and  skip  around,  and  acted  as  if  it  were  a  calf  instead 
of  a  huge  old  bull.  Eagle  Ribs  clung  to  it  with  both 
hands,  and  with  his  legs,  but  the  bull  jumped  so  high, 
and  came  down  so  hard,  that  two  or  three  times  he 
was  shaken  from  his  seat.  The  boys  all  about  him 
were  shouting  with  laughter,  some  of  them  calling 
out  encouraging  words  to  the  bull,  and  some  to  the 
rider. 

The  bull  seemed  very  strong,  and  for  a  long  time 
did  not  get  tired,  and  two  or  three  times  Jack  feared 
that  the  boy  would  be  thrown  from  his  back.  Pres- 
ently, however,  the  bull  stopped,  and   stood  with  his 


BUFFALO  HUNTING  83 

head  down,  glaring  at  the  horsemen  about  him,  as  if 
he  wanted  to  fight.  Now  the  boys  began  to  ask 
Eagle  Ribs  why  he  had  stopped  ;  why  he  did  not  ride 
further;  and  one  of  them  threw  his  quirt  to  him, 
telling  him  that  he  should  use  this  to  make  his  horse 
go  better.  Others  ran  their  horses  close  by,  in  front 
of  the  bull,  trying  to  make  him  charge.  Toward  one 
of  these  horses  he  rushed  furiously,  and  as  he  did  so, 
Eagle  Ribs  slipped  from  his  back  and  ran  away  in  the 
opposite  direction,  and  got  behind  a  horse  ridden  by 
one  of  the  boys.  Jack  rode  up  to  him,  and  signed  to 
him  to  get  on  behind  him,  and  then  they  went  back 
to  where  Eagle  Ribs'  horse  was  feeding,  and  he 
mounted  him.  Meantime,  the  bull  had  run  on,  and 
some  of  the  boys  had  killed  him. 

The  next  evening  the  old  crier  rode  about  the 
camp,  shouting  out  the  orders  of  the  chiefs;  telling 
the  people  that  the  next  day,  early,  the  camp  would 
move  back  to  the  great  river. 

On  the  evening  of  that  day  Jack  was  awakened  by 
a  shot  in  the  camp,  and  then  another,  and  then  a 
rush  of  people,  followed  by  a  swift  pounding  of 
horses'  hoofs  on  the  prairie.  He  scrambled  from  his 
bed,  put  on  his  moccasins,  and  seizing  his  gun  and 
cartridge  belt,  rushed  out-of-doors.  Joe  was  standing 
in  front  of  the  lodge,  having  just  come  out,  and 
Jack  asked  him  what  was  the  matter.  "  I  don't  know 
sure,"    said  Joe,  "  only  horses  have  been  stolen." 

"  Well,"  said  Jack,  "  why  don't  they  go  after  the 
thieves  ?  " 

"Oh,"  said  Joe,  "that  would  not  do;  that  is  too 
dangerous.     Suppose  we  were   to   run    out   onto  the 


84  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

prairie,  chasing  the  thieves,  they  could  stop  behind 
any  sage  brush,  or  the  edge  of  any  hill,  and  shoot  us 
as  we  came  up  to  them,  before  we  could  see  them. 
We'll  have  to  wait  until  to-morrow,  until  it  gets  light, 
and  then  take  good  horses  and  try  to  catch  them." 

The  whole  camp  was  now  thoroughly  awake,  and 
the  fires  were  made  up  in  every  lodge,  while 
people  went  about  visiting  each  other,  and  trying  to 
find  out  what  the  extent  of  the  loss  had  been.  It 
appeared  that  only  three  good  horses  had  been  taken ; 
but  more  would  have  been  stolen  if  it  had  not  hap- 
pened that  a  man  coming  back  late  from  a  gambling 
game,  and  seeing  somebody  cutting  the  rope  of  a 
horse  in  front  of  his  lodge,  had  shot  at  him  with  a 
pistol  that  he  carried.  The  enemy  threw  himself  on 
the  horse  and  rode  swiftly  away,  and  at  the  sound  of 
the  shot  a  half  dozen  men  rushed  from  their  lodges 
and  fired  at  the  retreating  sound. 

It  was  several  hours  before  the  camp  quieted  down 
again,  and  before  daylight  next  morning  forty  or  fifty 
men  on  good  horses  were  prepared  to  follow  the  trail, 
and  try  to  overtake  the  thieves.  Both  Jack  and  Joe 
wished  to  accompany  the  pursuing  party,  but  Hugh 
advised  them  not  to.  He  said,  "  If  we  had  come  up 
here  to  spend  the  summer  with  these  people,  maybe 
there'd  be  no  harm  in  your  going  off,  but  now  in  the 
course  of  a  few  days  we're  going  to  leave  them  and 
go  into  the  mountains,  and  if  you  run  your  horses 
down,  or  if  either  of  you  should  get  hurt,  why  it 
might  spoil  our  whole  trip  back  to  the  ranch.  These 
Indians  ain't  likely  to  overtake  those  fellows,  and 
'twill  just    be  a  long  hard   ride   for  nothing.     We'd 


BUFFALO  HUNTING  85 

better  stop  at  the  camp  for  two  or  three  days  more, 
and  then  strike  out  for  the  mountains,  just  as  we 
intended  to,  and  go  on  down  there  and  see  that  place 
they  used  to  call  Colter's  Hell,  and  then  go  on  down 
through  it,  and  back  to  the  ranch."  The  boys,  rather 
unwillingly,  agreed  to  do  this. 

Three  days  later  the  Piegan  village  was  once  more 
camped  not  far  from  the  Judith  Mountains,  and  all 
the  pursuing  warriors  had  returned,  not  having  over- 
taken their  enemies.  Dire  were  the  threats  that  they 
made  against  the  Crows  who  had  stolen  the  horses, 
and  a  number  of  war  parties  were  made  up  to  go 
fouth  and  make  reprisals  on  that  tribe. 


CHAPTER   VI 

AMID   WONDERS  OF  THE   YELLOWSTONE  PARK 

It  was  toward  the  middle  of  August  that  Hugh 
and  Jack  and  Joe,  with  their  little  pack  train,  started 
southwest,  to  strike  the  Carroll  Road,  to  go  to  the 
place  once  known  as  Colter's  Hell,  and  now  as  the 
Yellowstone  Park.  Their  animals  carried  only  their 
provisions,  messkit  and  bedding,  and  a  skin  lodge 
which  Hugh  had  purchased  from  Fox  Eye's  wife. 
Their  way  led  them  through  the  beautiful  Gallatin 
Valley,  crossing  the  surveyed  line  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  railroad,  then  being  built  westward,  and  then 
over  the  mountains  to  the  valley  of  the  Yellowstone, 
which  they  followed  up  to  the  canon.  Before  they 
reached  the  Gallatin  Valley  they  had  seen  plenty  of 
buffalo,  and  had  killed  one  for  fresh  meat,  while  in  the 
Valley  there  were  many  antelope.  In  the  Bridger 
Mountains,  by  which  they  passed,  elk  and  deer  were 
abundant  ;  and  one  morning  in  the  trail  which  they 
followed  were  seen  the  tracks  of  an  enormous  bear 
and  two  small  cubs. 

In  the  mountain  streams  which  they  crossed,  trout 
were  abundant,  and  they  greatly  enjoyed  the  delicious 
fish  which  were  so  easily  caught. 

A  wagon  road  had  been  built  through  the  caflon 
into  the  Yellowstone  Park,  and  here  a  number  of 
white   people    were    travelling   back   and    forth,    and 


WONDERS  OF  YELLOWSTONE  PARK     87 

wagons  were  hauling  material  for  hotels  and  other 
buildings  that  were  to  be  put  up  near  the  Mammoth 
Hot  Springs.  They  reached  these  one  night,  and 
spent  the  next  day  wandering  about  them,  marveling 
at  the  floods  of  hot  water  which  poured  over  the 
many  tiny  falls,  and  deposited  the  lime  which  had 
built  up  the  terraces  of  what  the  people  there  called 
"the  formations."  From  an  old  German,  Jack  pur- 
chased three  or  four  articles:  a  horse  shoe,  a  nail,  and 
the  twig  of  a  tree  which  had  been  suspended  in  the 
water  until  coated  with  a  beautiful  white  covering 
of  lime. 

The  next  day  they  climbed  the  hill  to  the  right  and 
came  into  a  level  park-like  country,  which  they  fol- 
lowed south.  It  was  a  picturesque  region,  with  grand 
mountains  showing  on  every  hand,  yet  nearby,  a 
green  level  meadow,  spangled  with  wild  flowers,  and  a 
little  further  back  dotted  with  clumps  of  pines  and 
spruces,  which  were  very  beautiful. 

At  every  step  there  was  something  new  to  be  seen: 
new  birds,  new  animals,  and  new  scenery.  The  trail 
led  up  a  fork  of  the  Gardiner  River,  and  then,  crossing 
over,  struck  one  of  the  heads  of  the  Gibbon  River, 
down  which  they  passed,  and  then  suddenly  found 
themselves  in  a  country  of  hot  springs,  which  steamed, 
and  sometimes  threw  up  boiling  water  to  a  consider- 
able height.  This  was  the  recently  discovered  Norris 
Geyser  Basin,  and  here  they  camped,  and  spent  the 
day  walking  about  among  the  hot  springs,  which  at 
first  were  very  awe-inspiring.  In  many  of  them  there 
were  old  tree  trunks  and  branches  of  trees,  which, 
when  taken  out  and   examined,  seemed  to  be  partly 


88  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

turned  to  stone.  Fine  particles  of  a  flinty  material 
seemed  to  have  penetrated  all  the  pores  of  the  wood, 
and  while  the  branches  were  not  hard,  the  woody 
matter  in  them  seemed  gradually  to  be  changing  to 
stone.  As  they  sat  eating  their  supper  that  night, 
Hugh  said  to  Jack,  "  Well,  son,  I  don't  wonder  that 
the  mountain  men  in  old  times  used  to  call  this 
Colter's  Hell.  It  is  surely  a  place  where  the  flames 
down  below  seem  to  be  mighty  close  to  the  surface  of 
the  earth." 

"  It  makes  me  afraid,"  said  Joe. 

"  Well,"  said  Jack,  "  it  does  me  too  a  little.  This 
morning  I  was  afraid  pretty  nearly  every  minute  that 
I'd  fall  through  the  ground  and  get  into  hot  water 
below." 

The  next  morning  they  moved  camp,  and  rode  over 
toward  the  river  intending  to  look  at  the  Grand 
canon,  and  the  wonderful  falls  of  which  they  had 
heard. 

Although  the  Yellowstone  Park  had  been  known 
for  more  than  ten  years,  few  people  had  as  yet  visited 
it.  Nevertheless,  they  saw  a  number  of  visitors, 
some  travelling  with  teams,  and  some  with  pack 
trains,  and  altogether  the  Park  seemed  quite  a  bus- 
tling place.  That  night  they  camped  on  the  head  of 
Alum  Creek,  and  the  next  day,  leaving  their  pack 
horses  picketed  and  hobbled  at  the  camp,  rode  over 
to  see  the  falls.  They  rode  first  down  toward  the 
river,  passing  the  Sulphur  Mountain,  a  great  barren 
hill,  full  of  hot  springs  and  sulphur  vents,  about  which 
much  sulphur  had  been  deposited.  Many  fragments 
of   the   bright   yellow    mineral   were   strewn    on    the 


WONDERS  OF  YELLOWSTONE  PARK    89 

ground,  and  at  one  place  Hugh  noticed  where  two  or 
three  grass  blades  had  fallen  across  one  of  the  vents* 
and  calling  the  boys'  attention  to  this,  they  all  dis- 
mounted to  look  at  it.  About  these  blades  of 
grass,  and  on  their  slender  heads,  most  delicate  and 
beautiful  crystals  of  sulphur  had  collected.  These 
were  so  fragile  that  a  little  motion  made  them  loose 
their  hold,  and  drop  from  the  grass,  or  else  break,  so 
that  it  was  impossible  to  carry  them  away.  Near 
here,  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  was  a  large  spring,  six  or 
eight  feet  in  diameter,  and  boiling  violently.  The 
water  was  sometimes  thrown  up  eight  or  ten  feet 
high,  not  in  jets,  but  seemingly  by  impulses  from  the 
center  of  the  pool,  so  that  the  spray  was  sent  outward 
in  all  directions. 

They  then  followed  down  the  river  for  two  or  three 
miles.  It  was  a  broad  stream,  swiftly-rushing  yet 
smooth,  and  nowhere  interrupted  by  rocks  or  rapids 
until  the  upper  falls  were  almost  reached.  Here  were 
short  rough  rapids  and  then  the  tremendous  falls. 
The  great  mass  of  dark  water  glided  rather  than 
plunged  into  the  depths  below,  and  just  below  the 
crest  of  the  cataract  was  broken  into  white  foam, 
which,  further  down  changed  to  spray.  The  falls 
are  162  feet  high,  and  clouds  of  white  vapor  con- 
stantly rose  from  the  water  below,  and  hid  the  view. 
Looking  down  the  stream,  they  had  a  glimpse  of  the 
wonderful  cafion  below. 

The  roar  of  the  falls  was  so  tremendous  that  con- 
versation was  impossible,  and  nothing  was  said ;  but 
presently  they  left  the  upper  falls  and  rode  on  north 
to  the  lower  one.     Here  was  repeated  the  marvelous 


90  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

impression  which  they  got  from  this  tremendous  body 
of  water  falling  150  feet  sheer  to  the  great  basin 
below,  and  from  under  the  mist  cloud  that  hid  the 
foot  of  the  fall  came  out  the  narrow  green  ribbon  of 
the  river,  winding  and  twisting,  hardly  to  be  recog- 
nized as  a  river,  dwarfed  by  distance,  and  creeping 
with  a  slow  oily  current.  On  either  side  the  stream 
rose  the  walls  of  the  cafion,  five  or  six  hundred  feet 
to  the  pine-fringed  margin  above. 

Looking  down  the  stream,  Jack  sav/  a  cafion  a 
thousand  feet  deep,  and  perhaps  twice  as  wide,  ex- 
tending for  miles  to  the  northward.  Its  sides  were 
curiously  sculptured  and  carved  into  fantastic  forms. 
In  one  place  a  vertical  cliff  supported  lofty  cones  of 
rock,  ranged  side  by  side  upon  the  same  horizontal 
ledge  along  its  face.  Again,  a  narrow  buttress  arose 
from  the  river's  level  in  a  series  of  pinnacles  and  tur- 
rets overtopping  one  another,  until  the  summit  of  the 
canon  wall  was  reached.  At  one  place  that  wall  was 
so  nearly  perpendicular  that  it  seemed  as  though  a 
stone  dropped  from  the  edge  of  the  cliff  would  fall  at 
once  into  the  water  of  the  river.  In  another,  the 
decomposing  rock  had  been  eaten  away  above  until  a 
talus  of  fallen  rock  and  earth  arose  in  a  steep  slope 
half  way  to  the  top.  But  to  Jack's  mind  the  glory  of 
the  canon  was  in  its  color.  The  walls  glowed  with  a 
vivid  intense  radiance  which  is  not  less  wonderful 
than  beautiful.  Browns  and  reds  and  pinks  and  yel- 
lows, and  delicate  grays  and  pure  whites  had  painted 
these  hard  rocks  with  a  wealth  of  coloring  hardly 
to  be  described  in  words.  In  the  sun  the  canon 
walls  shone  with  brilliancy.     When  the  clouds  passed 


WONDERS  OF  YELLOWSTONE  PARK    91 

over  the  sky  they  grew  duller  and  softer,  but  were 
hardly  less  beautiful.  Down  close  to  the  river  were 
the  most  vivid  greens,  and  in  the  mist  which  rose  from 
the  foot  of  the  fall  were  seen,  when  the  sun  was  shin, 
ing,  all  the  hues  of  the  rainbow. 

The  travellers  sat  long  watching  this  wonderful 
sight,  and  then  pushing  along  the  margin  of  the 
canon,  below  the  falls,  walked  out  on  a  projecting 
point  of  rock,  and  looked  up  and  down  the  river.  The 
more  they  gazed,  the  more  wonderful  it  seemed,  the 
harder  to  take  it  all  in,  and  the  harder  to  put  into 
words. 

On  a  pinnacle  of  rock,  rising  from  the  end  of  the 
point  on  which  they  had  walked,  was  a  great  nest,  in 
which  the  boys  noticed  two  large  and  downy  young 
birds.  Flying  up  and  down  over  the  river,  sometimes 
low  over  the  water,  again  far  above  the  heads  of  those 
who  stood  on  the  edge  of  the  canon,  were  great 
hawks  —  eagles,  Hugh  afterward  said  they  were,  but 
Jack  recognized  them  as  fish-hawks —  and  while  they 
were  standing  there,  one  of  these  great  birds  brought 
a  fish  to  the  nest,  and  tearing  it  to  pieces  with  its 
beak,  gave  the  fragments  to  its  greedy  young.  Jack 
noticed,  also,  little  sparrow-hawks  flying  about  the 
edge  of  the  canon,  and,  far  below  at  the  edge  of  the 
river,  saw  little  birds  flying  from  point  to  point,  which 
he  thought  must  be  dippers. 

The  whole  day  was  spent  here,  for  no  one  seemed 
to  wish  to  return  to  the  camp  ;  but  at  last,  as  the  sun 
swung  low,  and  the  pangs  of  hunger  began  to  be  felt, 
they  returned  to  their  horses,  and  mounting  them, 
were  soon  at  camp  once  more. 


92  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

The  next  morning  they  set  out  up  the  river  to  go  to 
the  lake.  On  the  way  they  passed  two  well  known 
places.  The  Mud  Volcano,  a  huge  hot  spring  of  gray 
clay,  which  steamed,  and  bubbled,  and  thumped,  and 
sometimes  spouted,  throwing  up  its  mud  to  a  great 
height.  Jack  in  his  mind  compared  the  boiling  mud 
to  mush  boiling  in  a  kettle,  but  as  this  pool  of  mud 
was  fifty  feet  in  diameter,  the  comparison  was  not  a 
good  one.  All  about,  the  trees  were  splashed  with 
mud,  which  had  dried  on  them,  showing  that  at  somr 
time,  not  long  before,  there  had  been  an  eruption. 
Nearby,  on  the  hillside,  was  a  steam  spring  in  a  little 
cavern,  which  they  had  heard  of  as  the  Devil's  Work- 
shop. From  this  cavern  came  constantly  great  vol- 
umes of  steam,  while  within  it  were  heard  hollow 
bubbling  noises,  which  sounded  like  the  clang  and 
clash  of  great  pieces  of  machinery  turning.  It  was  a 
mysterious  place,  and  neither  one  of  the  three  cared  to 
go  very  close  to  it.  There  were  boiling  springs  and 
sulphur  vents  hereabout  in  great  plenty,  and  the  place 
seemed  an  uncanny  one. 

The  way  to  the  lake  was  attractive :  it  led  through 
forests,  sometimes  of  living  green,  and  at  others  killed 
by  fire.  Occasionally  they  passed  through  pretty 
grassy  meadows,  and  from  them  had  charming  views 
of  the  river,  which  grew  wider  as  they  approached  the 
lake,  and  seemed  to  spread  out  over  wide  flats.  To 
the  right  the  mountains  rose  sharply,  forming  the 
*'  Elephant's  Back,"  a  thousand  feet  in  height. 

Presently  they  came  to  a  broad  opening,  and  saw 
before  them  the  lake.  At  the  outlet  the  grass  grew 
thick  and  rank,  and  in  the  marshes,  pond-holes  and 


WONDERS  OF  YELLOWSTONE  PARK    93 

sloughs  here,  they  saw  many  flocks  of  wild  ducks  and 
geese  ;  and  sand-pipers  and  beach  birds  fed  along  the 
shore.  Some  swans  were  seen,  and  a  few  great  white 
pelicans. 

Their  fresh  meat  was  now  exhausted,  and  for  a  day 
or  two  they  had  been  living  on  trout,  of  which  great 
numbers  were  caught  in  the  streams  that  they  had 
crossed,  for  fish  are  abundant  everywhere  in  the 
mountains.  When  they  made  camp  that  night, 
Jack  got  out  his  line,  and  cutting  a  pole,  went  down 
to  the  shore  to  catch  some  fish,  while  Hugh  and  Joe 
made  the  fire. 

Jack  had  hardly  thrown  his  hook  in  the  water  when 
it  was  seized,  and  he  dragged  a  large  fish  to  shore. 
As  he  was  taking  it  off  the  hook  however,  he  noticed 
a  bunch  on  its  side,  and  after  examining  it  for  a 
moment,  cut  into  this  bunch  with  his  knife,  and  drew 
from  it  a  long  white  worm.  He  got  a  dozen  trout, 
but  all  of  them  seemed  to  be  afflicted  with  this 
parasite,  and  finally  putting  up  his  line  he  carried 
them  to  the  fire,  and  showed  them  to  Hugh.  Both 
Hugh  and  Jack  agreed  that  these  fish  were  not  fit  to 
eat,  and  that  night  they  supped  on  dried  meat  and 
back-fat. 

As  they  had  made  cam.p  that  night  they  had 
noticed,  just  beyond  them,  two  white  tents,  and  had 
seen  some  horses  feeding  near  the  lake  shore.  Shortly 
after  their  supper,  a  man  walked  into  the  camp,  and 
after  saluting  them,  sat  down  by  the  fire.  A  little 
talk  showed  that  he  was  a  member  of  the  geological 
survey  that  worked  in  the  Park,  and  he  had  been 
attracted  to  their  camp  by  the  fact  that  they  had  an 


94  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

Indian  lodge.  He  was  a  pleasant  man,  and  seemed 
quite  willing  to  talk,  and  to  answer  all  their  questions, 
and  very  much  interested  in  his  work.  After  he  and 
Hugh  had  talked  together  for  a  while,  Jack  ventured 
to  ask  some  questions  about  the  Park,  and  especially 
about  the  place  where  they  now  were.  '*  Won't  you 
tell  me,  sir,"  he  said,  "what  you  can  about  this  big 
lake  that  we  are  on.  It  looks  to  me  awful  big  to  be 
up  here  high  in  the  mountains.  Of  course  I  know  it 
isn't  anything  like  the  Great  Lakes;  still  it's  the 
largest  lake  I  ever  saw." 

"  It  is  a  large  lake,"  said  their  visitor,  "  for  it  con- 
tains about  1 50  square  miles  of  water,  and  there  is  prob- 
ably no  lake  in  North  America  of  equal  size  at  so 
great  an  elevation.  You  see,  we  are  about  7700  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.  Roughly  speaking,  the 
shape  of  the  lake  is  like  that  of  an  open  hand  which 
lacks  the  first  and  middle  finger;  the  wrist  is  the 
northern  end  of  the  lake,  the  west  arm  answers  to  the 
outstretched  thumb,  and  the  south  and  southeast 
arms  to  the  ring  and  little  finger.  If  you  are  going  to 
travel  around  it,  you  will  feel  that  it  is  a  lovely  sheet 
of  water.  It  is  very  picturesque,  and  in  fair  weather 
it  lies  here  like  a  great  sapphire  beneath  the  unclouded 
sky.  But  when  the  storms  come  up,  and  the  wind 
rolls  down  along  the  mountain  sides,  the  lake  can  get 
up  a  great  sea,  and  one  would  not  care  to  be  out  on  it 
But  in  fair  weather  it  is  very  beautiful — to  me  the 
loveliest  spot  in  all  the  park.  And  what  is  more,  I 
never  get  tired  of  it ;  the  more  I  see  it,  and  the  more 
familiar  I  become  with  its  scenery,  the  lovelier  it  is. 
From    every   promontory   and    every  bay,   and    from 


WONDERS  OF  YELLOWSTONE  PARK    95 

every   hillside   above    it,   one  has  always  a  different 
view,  and  each  view  has  a  charm  that  is  all  its  own." 

The  geologist  sat  there  long  with  them  that  night, 
talking  to  them  in  a  most  interesting  way  about  the 
Park  and  the  geysers  and  the  canons.  He  told  them 
that  all  this  country  was  volcanic  in  origin,  and  that 
for  some  reason  or  other,  which  he  did  not  know,  the 
heat  still  remained  close  to  the  surface  of  the  earth  ; 
and  that  this  was  the  reason  that  there  were  so  many 
hot  springs  and  geysers  here. 

"  It's  one  of  the  most  interesting  regions  in  the 
world,"  he  said,  "and  one  of  the  most  beautiful.  As 
yet,  people  do  not  appreciate  it.  Many  people  do 
not  even  know  that  it  exists  ;  but  the  time  will  come 
when  thousands  will  gather  here  each  summer,  from 
all  quarters  of  the  world,  to  see  its  beauties.  Geo- 
logically, it  is  most  interesting,  and  already  geologists 
from  all  over  the  world  are  coming  to  see  it,  or  are 
making  plans  to  come.  I  predict  that  tlie  time  is 
coming  when  the  Yellowstone  Park  will  be  acknowl- 
edged to  be  the  most  wonderful  place  in  the  world." 

As  the  visitor  rose  to  go,  he  looked  about  the  lodge 
and  said,  "  .So  this  is  an  Indian  lodge,  is  it  ?  I've 
often  read  about  them,  but  this  is  the  first  one  I've 
ever  seen.  They  seem  warm  and  comfortable,  but  are 
they  not  rather  smoky  ?  " 

"No,"  said  Hugh,  "they're  not  smoky;  but  you 
must  remember  they're  not  made  to  stand  up  in  ;  peo- 
pie  in  the  lodge  are  expected  to  sit  down,  or  to  lie 
down.  If  there's  a  fire  burning,  and  no  wind  blowing, 
or  if  the  air  is  damp  and  heavy,  smoke  often  gathers 
in  the  top  of  the  lodge,  and  a  man  standing  in  it  finds 


96  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

about  his  head  more  than  he  likes.  Stoop  down  a 
little  bit  and  you  will  see  that  the  smoke  no  longer 
troubles  you."  The  geologist  did  as  Hugh  advised, 
and  seemed  to  be  greatly  interested  by  the  discovery 
that  it  was  as  he  had  said  ;  and  then  bidding  them 
good  night,  he  left  the  lodge. 


CHAPTER  VII 

GEYSERS  AND  HOT  SPRINGS 

They  were  afoot  before  the  sun  had  arisen  next 
morning,  and  the  outlook  over  the  lake  was  beautiful. 
Away  to  the  east  and  south  were  many  mountain 
peaks,  the  names  of  which  they  did  not  know;  but  all 
grand  and  m-  estic,  and  far  away  to  the  south  was 
one  larger  than  any  of  the  others,  and  covered  with 
snow.  As  Jack  looked  at  them,  he  saw  these  snowy 
crowns  take  on  a  glow  of  pink,  and  then  grow  brighter 
and  brighter,  and  then  could  see  the  sunlight  creep 
down  the  sides  of  the  mountains,  and  finally  it  was 
broad  day.  The  islands  in  the  lake  interested  him, 
and  he  thought  them  beautiful. 

As  they  passed  tlie  geologist's  camp,  they  saw  him 
standing  with  his  back  to  the  fire,  and  he  called  out 
good  morning  to  them;  then,  signing  to  Hugh  to 
draw  near,  he  said,  "  Excuse  me  for  asking  you,  but  I 
suppose  you  have  been  to  the  Upper  and  Lower  Geyser 
Basins  ?" 

"Well,"  said  Hugh,  "we've  been  to  one  geyser 
basin  ;  that  one  on  the  way  to  the  falls,  but  that's  the 
only  one  we  've  seen." 

"  Well,"  said  the  geologist,  "  of  course  you  know 
your  own  affairs  best,  but  it  seems  to  me  you  will 
make  a  great  mistake  if  you  do  not  get  to  the  Upper 


98  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

and  Lower  Geyser  Basins,  because  it's  there  that  the 
most  wonderful  geysers  are  to  be  seen." 

"Well,"  said  Hugh,  "we're  travelling  through 
here  to  see  the  sights,  and  I'd  be  mightily  obliged  to 
you  if  you'd  tell  me  what  we'd  better  do.  We  are 
strange  to  the  country,  and  don't  know  anything 
about  it." 

"I  shall  be  very  glad  to  help  you  in  any  way  that  I 
can,"  said  the  geologist,  "and  you  certainly  should 
not  miss  the  geyser  basins.  You  can  follow  the  trail 
along  the  lake  here  for  about  twenty  miles,  and  then 
turn  to  your  right,  at  the  end  of  the  Thumb,  and 
strike  northwest  across  through  the  timber,  to  the 
streams  running  into  the  Firehole  River,  and  follow 
them  down,  and  that  will  take  you  to  the  Lower 
Geyser  Basin  ;  then  from  there  you  must  travel  up 
the  Firehole  to  the  Upper  Geyser  Basin.  Then,  if 
you  want  to,  you  can  cross  over  to  Shoshone  and 
Lewis  Lakes,  and  go  on  south,  following  Snake  River, 
to  Jackson's  Lake.  From  there  you  can  go  wherever 
you  please,  but  if  you  choose  to  follow  up  Pacific 
Creek,  and  pass  through  Two  Ocean  Pass,  that  will 
bring  you  back  on  the  upper  Yellowstone,  and  then 
you  can  come  down  to  the  lake  again." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  we  want  to  go  south,  and  to 
get  down  on  the  streams  that  run  into  the  Platte. 
I  reckon  we  might  as  well  go  down  to  Jackson's  Lake 
the  way  you  say,  and  then  strike  across  the  country, 
over  into  the  Wind  River  drainage,  and  then  over 
onto  the  Platte." 

"  Yes,  I  guess  that  is  one  very  good  way  to  go  if 
you  know  the  way  across  the  range,"  said  their  friend. 


GEYSERS  AND  HOT  SPRINGS  99 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  as  he  started  on,  "  we  *1I  try  to 
find  a  way,  and  anyhow  we  're  mightily  obliged  to 
you  for  telling  us  about  those  two  geyser  basins, 
and  we  '11  sure  see  them  before  we  go  south  ;  "  and 
saying  goodbye  to  their  acquaintance,  they  rode  on. 

A  few  miles  further  along  the  trail,  they  came  to  a 
natural  bridge,  spanning  a  brook  which  now  carried 
little  water,  but  showed  that  in  the  spring  it  was 
much  larger.  The  stream  had  burrowed  its  way 
beneath  a  dike  of  lava,  at  right  angles  to  its  course, 
and  was  bridged  by  a  nearly  perfect  arch  of  rock, 
about  six  feet  thick  above  the  keystone.  From  the 
top  of  the  bridge  on  its  lower  side  to  the  bed  of  the 
stream  is  about  sixty  feet,  and  the  bridge  is  twenty- 
five  feet  long,  and  the  arch  fifteen  feet  in  width.  The 
lava  stands  in  upright  layers,  from  one  to  four  feet 
in  thickness,  and  seems  to  have  separated  into 
these  thin  plates  in  cooling. 

Beyond  the  bridge,  the  dim  trail  which  they  fol- 
lowed led  for  the  most  part  through  the  pleasant 
green  timber,  but  at  midday  they  passed  over  several 
hog-backs,  from  which  the  timber  had  long  ago  been 
burned  off,  most  of  the  tree  trunks  had  rotted  away, 
and  only  a  few  charred  fragments  of  the  roots  re- 
mained on  the  ground.  No  young  growth  had 
sprung  up  to  replace  the  old,  and  the  ground  was 
bare:  not  merely  bare  of  timber,  but  bare  even  of 
underbrush,  weeds  and  grass.  Exposed  for  years  to 
the  full  force  of  the  weather,  the  rains  and  melting 
snows  had  swept  away  all  the  rotted  pine  needles, 
twigs  and  fallen  branches  which  had  formed  the  old 
forest  floor  and  soil,  leaving   only  the   fine   lava  sand 


lOO  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

and  gravel,  without  any  soil  to  support  vegetation. 
Dry,  thirsty  and  desolate,  these  hog-backs  resembled 
the  desert,  a  barren  waste  in  the  midst  of  the  green 
pine  forest. 

Hugh  turned  to  Jack  and  said,  "You  see,  son,  what 
the  forest  fires  may  do  in  these  mountains.  When 
the  timber  burns  off,  unless  there  are  seeds  in  the  soil 
to  spring  up  at  once,  the  snow,  melting  quickly, 
washes  away  the  soil,  and  leaves  the  rock,  whether  it 
is  solid  or  broken  up  fine  like  this  here,  uncovered 
and  without  the  power  to  support  anything.  Every 
year  the  snow  melting  quickly  washes  off  a  larger 
tract,  and  so  these  little  deserts  increase  in  size.  The 
time  is  coming,  I  am  afraid,  when  these  mountains  will 
all  be  burned  over,  and  then  what  the  ranchmen  down 
on  the  prairie  are  going  to  do  for  water  for  their  hay 
meadows  and  their  crops  I  don't  know." 

"But,  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "aren't  there  laws  forbid- 
ding people  to  set  the  timber  on  fire?" 

"Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "there's  plenty  of  laws,  but  the 
trouble  is  nobody  pays  any  attention  to  them." 

Toward  evening  they  camped  on  the  shores  of  the 
lake,  at  what  Hugh  supposed  was  the  Thumb,  and  he 
told  the  boys  that  the  next  day  he  was  going  to  start 
off  northwest  through  the  timber,  and  try  to  strike 
the  streams  leading  down  to  the  Firehole. 

Making  an  early  start,  they  rode  up  the  hill,  follow- 
ing  a  deep  ravine  through  the  cool  green  timber,  over 
ground  covered  with  feathery  moss,  where  the  hoofs  of 
the  animals  made  no  sound  as  they  struck  the  ground. 
Soon  the  lake  was  lost  to  view,  and  then,  on  all  sides 
of  them  rose  the  tall  straight  boles  of  tlie  pine  trees. 


GEYSERS  AND  HOT  SPRfNGS  \ai 

There  seemed  not  very  much  life  A•f^^vIsJ'n^lt  'h\f,6.^ 
were  seen  in  the  tops  of  the  trees.  Some  gray  jays 
gathered  near  them  when  they  stopped  at  mid-day  to 
eat,  and  uttered  soft  mellow  whistles,  and  two  came 
down  very  close  to  Jack  and  Joe,  and  picked  up  little 
bits  of  dried  meat  that  they  threw  to  them. 

Soon  after  they  started  on,  they  came  to  a  stream, 
and  following  that  down,  about  three  or  four  o'clock 
rode  into  the  Lower  Geyser  Basin. 

Here  was  a  large  wet  meadow,  with  green  grass,  and 
plenty  of  good  camping  spots;  and  before  long  they 
had  the  lodge  up,  and  closing  the  door,  started  out  to 
make  a  tour  of  the  basin.  The  many  geysers,  large 
and  small,  and  the  wonderful  hot  springs  of  surpassing 
clearness  and  deep  blue  color  astonished  and  de- 
lighted Hugh  and  the  boys.  Many  of  the  springs 
were  very  hot,  seeming  to  boil  from  beneath,  bubbles 
of  steam  following  one  another  to  the  surface,  and 
then  exploding.  One  of  these  large  springs,  about 
twenty-five  feet  long  and  more  than  half  as  wide, 
gave  a  vigorous  display,  beginning  first  to  boil  at  the 
middle,  and  then  to  spout;  at  length  throwing  the 
water  about  in  all  directions,  from  twenty  to  forty 
feet  in  height.  The  margins  of  all  these  geysers  and 
hot  springs  were  beautifully  ornamented  with  yellow 
gray  and  pinkish  deposits  of  stone,  which  took  the 
form  of  beads  and  corals  and  sponges,  and  all  the  tree 
trunks  and  branches  seen  in  and  near  them  were 
partly  turned  to  stone.  Close  to  the  geysers  were 
what  are  called  the  paint-pots.  These  are  boiling 
pools  of  finely  divided  clay  of  various  colors.  The 
air  seemed  to  be  forced  up  slowly  through  the  thick 


102  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

>1ii.id,.  m^aking  .  Httle  puffs,  much  like  those^lhat  one 
would  see  in  a  kettle  of  boiling  Indian  meal.  Some 
of  these  paint-pots  were  very  large,  others  small,  and 
they  were  of  a  variety  of  colors — some  red,  some 
white,  some  yellow,  and  some  softly  gray.  The  clay 
was  exceedingly  smooth  to  the  touch. 

The  Geyser  Basin  was  long,  and  contained  a  great 
many  wonderful  springs  and  geysers,  of  which  some, 
like  the  Grotto,  had  built  up  great  craters  for  them- 
selves, twelve  or  sixteen  feet  high. 

The  Grotto  was  at  the  end  of  the  Lower  Geyser 
Basin,  and  from  here  they  turned  back  to  go  to  their 
camp.  Much  talk  was  had  during  the  evening  of  the 
wonderful  things  that  they  had  seen,  and  of  what 
they  expected  to  see  in  the  morning. 

An  early  start  brought  them  to  the  Upper  Geyser 
Basin  not  long  after  the  sun  had  risen.  Not  far  from 
the  Grotto  which  they  had  seen  last  night  was  the 
Giant,  with  an  enormous  crater,  from  which  great  vol- 
umes of  steam  were  escaping,  and  where  the  water 
could  be  heard  boiling  below  the  surface,  and  occasion- 
ally rising  in  great  jets  which  splashed  over  the  top. 
They  camped  near  at  hand,  and  turning  out  their 
horses,  proceeded  on  foot  to  see  Old  Faithful,  the 
Bee-hive,  the  Giantess,  the  Grand,  and  many  other 
large  geysers,  besides  many  hot  springs  wonderful 
in  color  and  in  the  purity  of  their  waters. 

Just  before  they  reached  Old  Faithful,  the  roar  of  its 
discharge  was  heard,  and  its  wonderful  shaft  of  water 
was  seen  rising,  by  two  or  three  rapid  leaps  finally  to  a 
height  of  over  one  hundred  feet,  with  clouds  of  steam 
reaching   far  higher,  and   drifting  off  with  the  wind. 


GEYSERS  AND  HOT  SPRINGS  103 

The  great  column  of  water  maintained  its  height  for 
fully  five  minutes,  and  then,  dropping  by  degrees,  it 
sank  down  and  disappeared.  All  about  the  crater  the 
naked  shell  of  silica  which  surrounds  it  was  flooded 
with  water,  so  hot  that  Jack  and  Joe,  who  tested  it 
with  their  fingers,  shook  them  violently  and  at  once 
thrust  them  into  their  mouths.  The  crater  of  this  gey- 
ser is  very  beautiful.  It  stands  on  a  little  mound  and 
is  four  or  five  feet  high,  and  its  lips  are  rounded 
into  many  strange  and  beautiful  forms,  beaded  and 
shining  like  glistening  pearls,  while  all  about  it  are 
little  terraced  pools  of  the  clearest  water,  with  scal- 
loped and  beaded  borders.  The  margins  and  floors  of 
these  pools  are  tinted  with  most  delicate  shades, 
white,  buff,  brown  and  gray,  and  in  many  of  them  are 
beautiful  little  pebbles,  which  are  also  opalescent. 

Many  cruel  hands  had  been  at  work  breaking  down 
these  beautiful  borders,  to  carry  them  away,  and 
people  who  had  visited  the  place  had  scrawled  their 
names  on  the  smooth  pebbles  and  in  the  beautiful 
flooring  of  the  pools. 

Hugh  said  to  Jack,  "Well,  we  come  from  the 
Indians,  and  we  belong  in  a  cow  camp;  but  we  ain't 
low  down  enough  to  spoil  pretty  things  like  these,  by 
writing  our  names  on  'em,  are  we,  son  ?" 

**  No,  Hugh,  we  're  not,"  said  Jack,  "  and  I'm  mighty 
glad  of  it.  I  don't  tnink  anybody  that  had  any  love 
for  pretty  things  would  want  to  spoil  them  in  this 
way,  or  take  any  of  this  beautiful  bordering  away 
with  them.  You  get  these  pretty  things  away  from 
their  surroundings,  and  they  are  not  pretty  any  longer. 
It's  like    picking  a  beautiful    flower  and    carrying    it 


I04  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

away  with  you  ;  before  you  've  got  far,  it's  all  faded  and 

gone,  and  good  for  nothing  except  to  throw  away." 

During  the  day,  which  seemed  to  them  all  too  short, 
the  geysers  were  good  to  them.  The  Bee-hive  played, 
throwing  up  a  slender  shaft  of  water  to  a  height 
of  about  200  feet ;  the  Grand  Geyser  sent  up  a  stream 
eighty  feet  in  height  ;  the  Castle  played,  but  its  exhi- 
bition was  not  very  showy  compared  with  the  others 
that  they  had  seen.  But  toward  afternoon,  the  great- 
est of  all  the  geysers,  the  Giantess,  gave  an  exhibition 
of  her  power,  throwing  up  a  vast  quantity  of  water, 
sometimes  to  a  height  of  one  hundred  feet.  While 
the  geyser  was  playing,  Jack  and  Joe  brought  a  large 
tree  stump  and  threw  it  into  the  basin,  and  it  was 
instantly  whirled  to  a  height  of  200  feet,  looking  at 
the  last  like  a  tiny  piece  of  wood.  The  wind,  which 
was  blowing,  kept  the  steam  and  water  from  going 
nearly  as  high  as  the  stump  went.  The  roar  of  the 
geyser  was  tremendous,  and  its  force  shook  the 
ground  all  about,  so  that  those  who  were  looking  on 
were  almost  afraid. 

As  they  returned  to  camp  that  night  they  saw  a 
party  of  tourists  moving  about  among  the  geysers,  and 
passing  near  they  could  see  that  they  were  busy  with 
axes  and  a  pick,  cutting  away  and  prying  out  the  bor- 
ders of  some  of  the  geyser  pools.  It  was  an  irritating 
sight,  but  they  could  do  nothing,  and  much  of  the 
way  back  to  camp  was  devoted  to  talking  of  the 
wickedness  of  destroying  the  beauties  of  this  place, 
and  declaring  that  the  government  ought  to  do  some- 
thing to  protect  the  wonders  of  the  region  from  the 
destruction  which  constantly  threatened  them. 


GEYSERS  AND  HOT  SPRINGS  105 

At  night,  after  supper,  they  sat  in  the  lodge  talking 
about  what  they  should  do  to-morrow,  and  for  the 
following  days.  Generally,  their  idea  was  to  travel 
in  a  southeasterly  direction,  and  finally  to  bring  up  at 
Mr.  Sturi^is'  ranch;  but  just  how  they  should  go  was 
uncertain.  Neither  Jack  nor  Joe  had  ever  before 
travelled  in  the  mountains,  and  they  were  therefore 
quite  dependent  on  Hugh  for  advice.  Jack  said,  "Of 
course,  Hugh,  we  want  to  get  back  to  the  ranch,  but 
then,  too,  we  want  to  see  as  much  as  we  can  of  what 
there  is  in  the  mountains  ;  but  I  suppose  we  '11  have 
to  travel  by  some  trail  or  some  road,  because  we  can't 
take  the  horses  everywhere." 

"Well,  that's  so,"  said  Hugh;  "we  can't  go  every- 
where,  but  then  again,  when  you  are  travelling  with  a 
pack  train  there's  mighty  few  places  where  you  can't 
go;  you  're  mighty  free  and  independent  when  you  're 
packing.  Of  course  you  can't  take  a  pack  train  up  a 
cut  cliff;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  rough  mountains 
and  down  timber  don't  cut  much  figure  ;  you  can 
pretty  much  always  go  round,  and  keep  your  general 
direction.  You  can  go  and  come  about  as  you  want 
to." 

"  Well,  "  said  Jack,  "  of  course  I  never  travelled 
before  with  a  pack  train  in  the  mountains,  but  I  tell 
you  I  like  it.  It's  a  mighty  pretty  sight  to  see  the 
white  packs  winding  in  and  out  among  the  timber,  or 
to  see  them  following  one  another  along  a  narrow 
ridge,  or  zigzaging  up  and  down  a  steep  hillside,  as 
we  've  seen  them  since  we  've  been  here  in  the  Park." 

"Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "it's  a  nice  way  to  travel;  of 
course  it's  a  little  slower  than  a  wagon,  and  it  takes 


io6  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

you  some  time  to  load  and  unload  ;  but  then  again 
you  can  often  go  straight,  instead  of  going  a  long  way 
round,  and  I  like  it." 

"  I  tell  you,"  said  Joe,  "  I  like  to  watch  these  horses. 
I  don't  know  whether  they  've  ever  been  in  the  moun- 
tains before,  but  it  seems  to  me  they  're  smart.  They 
seem  to  know  a  whole  lot,  and  I  notice  that  when 
they  *re  going  along  among  the  trees,  sometimes  I  see 
a  horse  start  to  go  between  two  trees,  where  I  think 
there  isn't  room  enough  for  the  pack,  but  generally 
they  get  through.  Then,  sometimes,  going  under 
branches  it  seems  to  me  that  the  pack  has  got  to 
strike  the  branches,  but  the  horses  generally  get 
under  them  without  touching.  Of  course  if  they 
follow  old  Baldy  close,  there  is  always  room  enough  ; 
but  now  and  then  that  dun  horse  tries  to  cut  ofT  a  cor- 
ner, and  get  in  ahead  of  one  of  the  others,  and  then 
sometimes  I  think  he's  bound  to  get  caught.  He  only 
did  so  once,  day  before  yesterday,  and  then  he  went 
between  two  trees  where  there  wasn't  room  enough  ; 
then  he  pushed  and  pushed  and  pushed  for  a  long 
time,  and  I  had  to  run  round  in  front  of  him  and  drive 
him  back,  and  then  he  got  out." 

•' Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "horses  that  are  used  to  the 
mountains,  or  mules  or  burros,  get  to  be  mighty 
smart  in  going  through  thick  timber,  and  if  the  packs 
are  properly  put  on,  there  isn't  likely  to  be  much 
trouble,  unless  you  strike  down  timber.  Of  course, 
down  timber  is  bad." 

"Well,  what  is  down  timber,  Hugh?"  said  Jack. 
*'  I've  heard  of  places  in  the  woods  back  east  where  a 
hurricane  goes  along  and    tears  up  all  the  trees  in  a 


GEYSERS  AND  HOT  SPRINGS  107 

strip  for  miles  in  length.     They  call  that  a  wind-fall 
there.     Is  that  the  way  down  timber  is  made  here  ?  ' 

"  No,"  said  Hugh,  "we've  plenty  of  wind  here,  but 
it  don't  often  act  that  way.  Down  timber  comes  like 
this  •  say  that  you  have  a  rough  and  rocky  m^ountain 
side,  where  the  timber  stands  thick,  most  of  the  trees 
will  be  from  six  to  ten  inches  in  diameter,  but  they  'U 
all  be  pretty  near  of  a  size.  Now,  suppose  a  fire 
passes  over  this,  and  kills  all  these  trees  ;  likely  it 
doesn't  burn  them  to  amount  to  anything,  but  it's 
hot  enough  to  sort  o'  cook  the  sap,  and  kill  the  trees. 
They  '11  stand  there  naked,  with  the  bark  gradually 
drying  up  and  peeling  off  them,  maybe  for  twenty, 
thirty  or  forty  years ;  and  likely  while  they  're  stand- 
ing there,  there  '11  be  a  new  growth  of  young  pines 
springing  up  among  them,  and  grow  to  quite  a  height. 
But  after  a  while  these  dead  trees  get  white  and 
weathered,  and  the  dead  roots  that  hold  them  in  the 
ground  keep  on  rotting  and  rotting,  and  at  last  these 
roots  become  so  weak  that  there's  nothing  to  support 
the  tall  trunk  that  stands  there,  and  then  with  every 
big  wind  that  comes  blowing  along,  some  of  the  trees 
get  blown  over,  and  fall  to  the  ground.  They  don't 
all  fall  at  once,  but  some  may  fall  to-day  with  a 
south  wind,  and  some  may  fall  next  week  with  a  west 
wind,  and  some  the  week  after  with  a  north  wind.  In 
this  way  they  're  falling  all  the  time,  and  in  all  sorts 
of  directions,  and  presently  the  timber  will  lie  piled 
up  on  the  ground  there,  criss-cross  in  all  directions. 
Now,  if  the  logs  are  not  more  than  a  foot  or  two 
above  the  ground,  and  don't  lie  too  close  together, 
you  can  take  your  train  through  them  ,  but  if   they 


lo8  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

lie  three  or  four  feet  high,  of  course  the  horses  can't 
step  or  jump  over  them,  and  you've  either  got  to  go 
winding  round  among  them,  picking  out  the  low- 
places  where  the  animals  can  get  across,  or  else  you've 
got  to  chop  your  way  through,  or  else  you've  got  to 
back  out  and  go  round.     That's  down  timber." 

"But  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "  I  should  think  it  would 
be  kind  of  dangerous  to  ride  through  one  of  those 
patches  of  dead  timber  when  the  wind  is  blowing  ; 
they  might  fall  on  you." 

"Well,"  said  Hugh,  "so  they  might.  I've  some- 
times had  to  ride  through  a  patch  of  that  timber 
when  the  trees  were  falling  all  about,  but  I  never 
happened  to  have  one  fall  on  me,  nor  on  any  animal 
that  I  was  driving.  The  chances  are  mighty  few  that 
you  '11  get  hit.  I  mind  one  time  a  big  tree  fell,  with 
the  top  about  twenty  feet  from  one  of  my  animals, 
and  threw  dirt  and  splinters  all  about  him.  The 
horse  was  scared  a  whole  lot,  and  ran  away  ;  but  of 
course  I  got  him  again." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ACROSS  THE  CONTINENTAL  DIVIDE 

The  next  morning  they  made  an  early  start,  and 
following  up  the  Firehole,  turned  up  a  branch  coming 
in  from  the  east,  only  a  short  distance  beyond  Old 
Faithful.  They  purposed  to  go  over  to  Shoshone 
Lake,  and  camp  there,  and  to  do  this  they  must  pass 
over  the  Continental  Divide,  for  the  Firehole  finds  its 
way  through  the  Madison  River,  and  the  Missouri,  to 
the  Atlantic  Ocean,  while  the  waters  of  the  Shoshone 
Lake  fall  into  Snake  River,  then  into  the  Columbia, 
and  so  at  last  reach  the  Pacific. 

The  way  was  pleasant,  through  park-like  openings 
and  green  timber,  and  the  distance  not  great.  There 
was  no  trail,  but  they  followed  up  a  narrow  grassy 
valley,  whose  slopes  on  either  side  were  clothed  with 
pines. 

At  last,  when  Hugh  thought  they  must  be  near  the 
Divide,  they  found  down  timber,  and  began  to  wind 
about  among  the  logs.  Little  by  little,  however, 
matters  grew  worse,  and  presently  a  stick  was  en- 
countered over  which  old  Baldy  could  not  step,  but 
on  which  he  caught  his  foot  and  almost  fell.  Here  all 
hands  dismounted,  and  getting  an  ax  out  of  a  pack, 
Hugh  and  the  boys  went  ahead,  and  by  lifting  some 
of  the  larger  sticks,  and  breaking  smaller  ones,  and  a 


no  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

little  chopping,  a  way  was  soon  made  by  which  the 
horses  could  pass  along. 

Beyond  this  timber  was  an  open  and  almost  level 
country,  which  Hugh  declared  was  the  Divide,  and 
passing  along  a  little  further,  they  began  to  go  down 
a  gentle  hill.  Here  there  were  park-like  meadows  and 
low  wooded  hills  on  either  side.  There  were  a  few 
little  gullies,  but  no  water;  and  in  the  dry  stream-beds 
and  water-holes  were  many  tracks  of  elk,  all  made  in 
the  spring  when  the  ground  was  soft.  From  the 
summit  of  this  Divide,  when  snows  are  melting  in 
the  early  summer,  little  trickles  of  water  pour  down  the 
opposite  sides  of  the  mountains,  some  to  the  north, 
to  find  their  way  into  the  Firehole ;  others  south 
toward  Snake  River.  Hugh  followed  the  general 
direction  of  one  of  these  water-courses,  which  con- 
stantly grew  larger,  and  presently  turned  into  one  still 
wider,  whose  sandy  bottom  was  dotted  with  great 
blocks  of  black  lava.  Hugh  pointed  out  these  to  the 
boys,  and  said  to  them,  "That's  the  stuff  that  in 
old  times  many  of  the  Indians  used  to  make  their 
arrow  points  from.  It  must  have  been  a  great  article 
of  trade,  for  away  up  north  of  the  boundary  line  I 
have  seen  little  piles  of  chips  of  that  black  glass  lying 
on  the  prairie,  where  men  have  been  making  arrow- 
heads, and  I  know  that  there  wasn't  any  of  the  rock 
within  400  miles." 

All  along  the  valley  of  this  dry  stream  was  a  beau- 
tiful park  of  gently  rolling  country,  with  timbered 
knolls  and  open  grassy  intervales.  Some  of  the  trees 
vere  very  large  —  two  or  three  feet  in  diameter. 

It  was  early  in    the  afternoon  when  they  reached 


ACROSS  THE  CONTINENTAL  DIVIDE     in 

Shoshone  Lake,  and  riding  along  its  smooth,  firm 
beach,  camped  in  a  Uttle  point  of  spruces.  The  lake 
was  large,  and  looked  as  if  it  should  have  a  fish  in  it. 
Jack  got  out  his  rod  and  put  it  together,  and  standing 
it  against  a  tree,  went  back  into  the  open  meadow 
where  the  horses  were  feeding,  to  catch  grasslioppers. 
He  caught  half  a  dozen,  and  then,  returning,  fished 
faithfully  for  quite  a  long  distance  along  the  shore, 
but  without  success.  Neither  could  he  see  anywhere 
that  fish  were  rising,  and  he  wondered  whether  it 
could  be  possible  that  this  beautiful  lake,  which 
seemed  an  ideal  home  for  trout,  should  have  none  in 
it.  Joe,  on  the  other  hand,  as  soon  as  camp  had  been 
made,  had  taken  his  rifle  and  started  out  on  foot, 
working  along  the  edge  of  the  lake  and  looking  for 
game.  He  found  many  old  elk  tracks  and  a  wtry  few 
made  by  deer,  but  went  quite  a  long  distance  without 
seeing  anything.  Then,  turning  away  from  the  shore 
of  the  lake,  and  taking  the  hill-side  at  some  distance 
from  it,  he  began  to  work  back  to  the  camp.  Here 
there  were  more  deer  tracks,  but  none  that  seemed 
worth  while  for  him  to  follow,  and  he  began  to  feel 
discouraged.  When  he  had  come  almost  opposite  the 
camp  he  crossed  a  wide  dry  water-course,  going  now 
rather  carelessly,  though  still  making  no  noise,  yet 
not  trying  to  keep  out  of  sight.  As  he  climbed  the 
gentle  slope,  after  crossing  the  little  valley,  and  had 
almost  reached  the  top,  he  stopped,  and  turned  about 
and  looked  backward,  and  there  to  his  astonish- 
ment saw,  projecting  above  a  patch  of  low  willows 
and  weeds,  the  heads  of  two  fawns.  They  were  star- 
ing at    him   most    innocently,  but    the   camp  needed 


112  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

meat,  and  bringing  his  rifle  to  his  shoulder  he  fired 
at  the  neck  of  one  of  them,  and  the  little  deer  disap. 
peared,  while  the  other  turned  about  and  raced  away 
through  the  brush. 

Going  to  the  place  Joe  found  the  fawn  quite  a  small 
one,  thougli  it  had  already  lost  its  spotted  coat.  He 
dressed  it,  and  then  throwing  it  on  his  shoulders 
walked  quickly  to  the  camp.  As  he  came  in  front 
of  the  lodge,  Hugh  said  to  him,  "  Hello,  Joe,  what 
have  you  got  there,  a  jack  rabbit?  " 

"  Well,"  said  Joe,  "  it  is  not  much  bigger,  but  it's 
the  only  thing  I  have  seen  except  another  of  the 
same  size,  and  that  I  could  not  shoot  at." 

That  night  as  the  sun  went  down  the  wind  began 
to  blow  a  fresh  dry  wholesome  breeze  from  the  west. 
The  wind  raised  quite  a  sea  on  the  lake,  and  big  waves 
tumbled  up  on  the  beach  one  after  another,  so  fast 
that  it  was  not  an  easy  matter  to  get  a  bucket  of 
water  without  at  the  same  time  getting  a  wet  foot. 
Jack  and  Joe  walked  along  the  beach  a  little  way. 

"  Do  you  know,  Joe,"  said  Jack,  "  this  looks  to  me 
just  like  the  seashore ;  the  wind  blows  in  the  same 
way,  and  the  waves  have  the  same  white-caps,  and 
the  surf  roars  as  it  pounds  on  the  beac^  ;  and  there  is 
the  moon  on  the  water.  Why  it  seems  to  me  just  like 
some  nights  I  have  walked  on  the  oeach,  back  east  on 
the  Long  Island  shore." 

"Well,"  said  Joe,  "it's  not  like  anything  I  ever 
saw  before.  Up  in  our  country  we  don't  have  sand 
beaches  like  this,  though  we  do  have  the  lake, and  the 
waves  and  the  wind." 

The  animals  were  packed  early  next  day,  and  they 


ACROSS  THE  CONTINENTAL  DIVIDE     113 

followed  the  shores  of  the  lake  southward.  In  some 
places  they  could  see  where  elk  had  passed  along 
recently,  and  there  were  tracks  of  bulls  and  cows  and 
calves.  In  some  places,  too,  along  the  beach  the  pines, 
which  were  small  yet  looked  old,  were  all  bent  toward 
the  eastward,  and  had  no  branches  on  the  western 
side.  Joe  pointed  these  trees  out  to  Hugh  and  said, 
■'Why  is  it  Hugh  that  these  trees  seem  all  bent  one 
way,  and  have  no  branches  on  the  other  side  ;  is  it 
the  wind  ?" 

"Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "the  wind.  You'll  see  that 
in  lots  of  places,  especially  on  mountain  tops,  and 
along  big  waters  like  this,  where  the  wind  blows 
mostly  from  the  west  and  northwest,  and  gets  a  wide 
sweep." 

The  wind  was  still  blowing  hard,  and  the  lake  was 
in  a  turmoil.  The  air  was  cold,  and  all  hands  wore 
their  coats  as  they  rode  along. 

A  day's  journey  took  them  by  Shoshone  Lake  and 
Lewis  Lake,  and  they  camped  below  it  on  Lewis  Fork. 
For  much  of  the  distance  the  trail  passed  through  an 
attractive  open  country,  full  of  streams  and  springs, 
and  dotted  with  clumps  of  thick  willow  brush  ;  while 
on  the  higher  lands  were  the  ever-present  pines.  To 
the  left  was  the  lofty  ridge  of  the  Red  Mountain 
Range,  down  which  half  a  hundred  beautiful  cascades 
hurried  toward  the  river.  To  the  right  was  the 
stream,  and  beyond  the  steep  sides  of  the  Pitchstone 
Plateau,  so  called  from  the  black  glossy  fragments  of 
the  lava  rock,  of  which  the  soil  is  largely  made  up.  It 
was  evident  that  this  would  be  a  hard  trail  in  the 
early    spring,    for   it  was  low  and   wet,   and    animals 


114  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

would  have  trouble  in  passing  over  it  at  any  except 
the  dry  season. 

A  few  miles  below  the  camp  they  began  to  look 
for  a  ford.  The  stream  looked  deep  and  difficult,  yet 
it  was  necessary  for  them  to  cross  it,  for  on  the  east 
side  the  mountains  came  down  close  to  the  river  in  a 
steep  and  impassable  jumble  of  slide  rock.  Just 
above  them  they  could  see  a  great  water-fall,  not  far 
below  the  lake.  It  was  now  getting  toward  night, 
and  Hugh  was  a  little  uncertain  whether  to  cross  this 
stream,  or  to  camp  on  this  side.  However,  he  deter- 
mined to  cross,  and  stopping,  had  the  boys  catch  up 
the  pack  animals,  while  he  rode  into  the  stream  to 
prospect  for  a  ford.  He  kept  diagonally  down  the 
river,  going  very  slowly,  and  feeling  for  the  shoalest 
places,  but  at  last,  reached  the  opposite  bank  and 
climbed  out.  Then,  turning  about,  he  recrossed,  and 
telling  the  boys  to  keep  the  horses  close  to  him,  he  led 
them  into  the  stream.  The  ford  was  rather  deep,  the 
water  coming  more  than  half  way  up  the  horses' 
bodies,  so  that  they  all  tucked  their  feet  up  behind 
them  on  the  saddle,  and  rode  along  with  some  anxiety, 
lest  a  false  step  or  a  stumble  over  the  great  stones 
which  formed  the  river  bottom  should  throw  down 
one  of  the  animals,  and  so  wet  either  a  pack  or 
a  rider.  However,  the  crossing  was  made  safely, 
and  then  climbing  the  steep  hill,  they  kept  on 
through  the  timber,  soon,  however,  camping  by  a  little 
spring,  in  an  opening  where  there  was  food  for  the 
animals. 

By  the  time  camp  was  made,  the  sun  had  set  and 
it  was  too  late  to  hunt.     The  little  deer  had  all  Deen 


ACROSS  THE  CONTINENTAL  DIVIDE     115 

eaten,  and  once  more  they  made  their  meal  on  dried 
meat  and  back-fat. 

The  next  day  they  kept  on  through  the  green 
timber,  riding  over  ridges  and  at  a  distance  from  the 
stream,  though  now  and  then  they  had  glimpses  of 
its  dark  hurrying  waters.  To  the  right  were  seen 
some  little  lakes,  one  of  them  covered  with  water- 
fowl. Across  the  trail  that  they  v/ere  following — if 
it  could  be  called  a  trail  —  was  some  fallen  timber,  but 
nothing  that  delayed  them.  Jack  noticed  that  some 
of  the  living  trees  were  curiously  bent  in  their  growth, 
sometimes  at  right  angles  to  the  vertical  a  foot  or  two 
from  the  ground,  the  trunk  growing  six  inches  or  a 
foot  horizontally,  and  then  turning  once  more  straight 
toward  the  sky,  the  remainder  of  the  tree  being 
straight  as  an  arrow.  In  some  cases  the  bend  was  more 
than  this,  the  tree  growing  straight  up  for  a  foot,  and 
then  turning  over,  growing  down  for  a  few  inches  or  a 
foot,  and  then  making  another  curve,  and  growing 
upright  once  more.  Some  of  these  curves  were  almost 
shaped  like  the  letter  S,  and  Jack  kept  wondering 
what  caused  these  bends.  As  they  stopped  at  mid-day 
to  unsaddle  and  let  the  horses  feed  and  to  eat  some- 
thing themselves,  Jack  asked  Hugh  about  the  curious 
way  in  which  these  trees  grew. 

Hugh  smiled  and  said,  "  I  don't  much  wonder  you 
ask  about  that,  son.  I  remember  that  I  used  to 
think  about  that  a  good  deal,  and  wonder  how  it 
happened.  But  it  is  easy  enough  to  explain  if  you 
once  get  onto  it,  and  you  can  easily  enough  get  onto 
it  if  you  travel  around  through  the  mountains 
enough. 


ii6  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

"You  know  I  told  you  the  other  day,  '  he  continued, 
*'  that  when  a  country  has  been  burned  over,  the  trees 
stand  for  a  good  many  years,  and  then  they  commence 
to  fall  in  all  directions.  Likely  enough  before  they 
begin  to  fall,  a  whole  lot  of  young  trees  and  sprouts 
have  started  from  the  ground,  and  are  growing  among 
them.  Now,  nothing  is  more  likely  than  that  some  of 
these  falling  trees  may  happen  to  fall  upon  these 
young  saplings  and  sprouts.  Some  of  them  they  smash 
down  flat,  and  the  sprout  dies;  but  sometimes  they 
fall  so  as  just  to  bend  a  sprout  over,  or  so  that  a  little 
small  sprout  just  growing  is  bound  to  grow  up  against 
the  log  as  the  sprout  grows  larger.  These  young 
trees  are  springy  and  bend  easily.  Of  course  the 
ones  that  are  smashed  down  and  broken  off  short  are 
killed;  we  never  hear  anything  more  of  them.  But 
likely  enough  there  are  some  young  and  hardy  plants 
caught  beneath  the  tops  or  branches  of  the  fallen  trees 
within  a  foot  or  two  of  the  ground,  and  not  much  hurt 
but  just  held  down.  Sometimes  these  little  trees  are 
pressed  flat  to  the  ground,  and  when  they  are,  they 
usually  die.  But  if  they  are  only  bent  over  a  few 
inches,  or  a  foot  or  two  from  the  ground,  they  don't 
always  die.  Instead  of  that  they  keep  on  growing, 
and  of  course  the  top  of  the  growing  tree  keeps  on 
reaching  up  all  the  time  toward  the  light.  No  matter 
if  it  is  bent  flat,  it  tends  to  turn  upward,  so  that  all  of 
it  beyond  the  place  where  the  dead  tree  is  pressing 
on  it  grows  straight,  just  like  all  the  other  trees 
around  it.  Then,  after  a  while  the  dead  stick  which 
is  holding  the  young  tree  down,  rots,  and  at  last  dis- 
appears.     The   injured  tree  grows  larger  and  larger. 


ACROSS  THE  CONTINENTAL  DIVIDE     117 

and  at  last  gets  to  be  a  big  tree';  and  there  is  then 
nothing  to  show  how  this  big  tree  should  have  grown 
in  such  a  bent,  queer  fashion." 

"Well  now,  Hugh,  that's  mighty  interesting,"  said 
Jack,  **  and  I  ought  to  have  worked  it  out  for  myself, 
for  three  or  four  times  to-day  I  saw  dead  trees  pres- 
sing little  green  sprouts  over  to  one  side  ;  but  I  never 
thought  about  that  being  the  reason  for  the  bends  in 
these  big  trees.  The  fact  is,  I  never  thought  of  them 
bending  while  the  trees  were  young,  but  supposed  it 
must  be  some  accident  or  disease  that  had  struck  the 
trees  after  they  were  big." 

"Well,"  said  Hugh,  "you  see  it's  all  simple  enough, 
if  you  understand  it." 

"Simple!"  said  Jack,  "Why  it's  simple  as  rolling 
off  a  log  ;   but  you  've  got  to  understand  the  reason." 

"Well,"  said  Hugh,  "you  keep  your  eyes  open  as 
you  ride  through  the  timber,  and  you  '11  see  the  very 
thing  I  've  been  talking  about,  happening  before 
your  face  all  the  time." 

The  wind  blew  fiercely  all  day  long,  though  when 
they  were  in  the  timber  they  hardly  felt  it,  and  only 
the  sighing  of  the  pines  and  occasionally  the  crash  of 
some  distant  tree  told  of  the  force  of  the  gale.  They 
crossed  Snake  River  about  noon,  and  kept  on  south, 
ward.  During  a  halt  at  the  river  all  hands  went  to 
the  fishing,  and  caught  some  splendid  trout,  which 
they  promptly  cooked  and  which  gave  them  a  deli- 
cious meal.  A  little  more  fishing  furnished  them  with 
enough  fish  for  two  or  three  meals  more,  and  Jack 
was  hard  at  work  trying  to  catch  a  big  one  that  he 
had  seen  rise,  when  he  saw  two  great  shadows  on  the 


ii8  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

water,  and  looking  up,  saw  only  a  few  yards  above  him 
a  pair  of  great  sand-hill  cranes.  They  were  not  in  the 
least  afraid,  and  flying  on  a  little  further,  alighted  in 
the  meadow  where  they  fed,  walking  about  in  most 
dignified  fashion  until  the  train  started  on  again,  and 
alarmed  them. 

As  they  went  into  camp  that  afternoon  at  a  little 
spring,  Hugh  said  to  the  boys,"  Now,  look  here  ;  if  one 
of  you  don't  go  out  pretty  soon  and  kill  something, 
I'll  have  to  do  that  myself.  This  camp  needs  fresh 
meat.  Dried  meat  and  back-fat  is  good  ;  fish  are 
good  ;  but  we  want  either  a  deer  or  an  elk ;  or,  better 
still,  if  you  can  find  it,  a  buffalo;  but  I  reckon  these 
bison  here  in  the  mountains  are  a  little  too  smart  for 
any  of  us.  They're  pretty  scarce,  and  they're  pretty 
watchful." 

"  Well,"  said  Jack,  "  which  one  of  us  shall  go  ?  We 
can't  both  go,  because  one  has  got  to  stay  and  help 
drive  the  animals.  I'll  toss  up  with  you,  Joe,  to  see 
which  shall  hunt  to-morrow  morning." 

"All  right,"  said  Joe,  "  I'll  toss  up;"  but  as  no  one 
of  them  had  a  coin.  Jack  took  a  fresh  chip,  and  rub- 
bing some  black  earth  on  one  side  cf  it,  said,  "We'll 
call  that  black  side  heads,  and  the  other  tails;  and 
Hugh  will  throw  the  chip.  You  call,  Joe."  Hugh 
tossed  the  chip  into  the  air,  and  Joe  called  heads. 
But  the  chip  came  down  the  clean  side  up,  and  so 
Jack  was  to  go  hunting  next  morning. 

As  soon  as  the  animals  were  packed,  Jack  started 
off,  keeping  to  the  right  of  the  trail  and  up  the  hill. 
He  knew,  of  course,  that  at  this  time  of  the  year  the 
elk  we;-e  likely  to  be  found    high  up,   and  the  deer, 


ACROSS  THE  CONTINENTAL  DIVIDE     119 

too;  for  the  flies  and  mosquitoes  were  bad.  The 
underbrush  was  thick,  and  there  were  many  marshy 
places,  and  once  this  hillside  had  been  covered  with  a 
great  forest,  for  it  was  strewn  with  logs.  The  under- 
brush seemed  higher  and  thicker  than  he  had  been 
accustomed  to,  and  he  saw  many  sorts  of  plants  that 
he  did  not  remember  to  have  seen  before;  and  at  last 
it  struck  him  that  perhaps  as  he  was  now  on  the  west- 
ern side  of  the  Continental  Divide,  the  rain-fall  might 
be  greater,  and  that  this  might  make  a  difference  in 
the  vegetation.  Willow  and  alders,  and  other  brush, 
made  riding  rather  difficult,  and  besides  that,  the  hill- 
sides grew  steeper  and  steeper,  until  at  last  Jack  dis- 
mounted, and  clambering  up  on  foot,  left  Pawnee  to 
follow,  as  he  had  long  ago  been  trained  to  do.  Get- 
ting up  on  a  high  ridge,  bald  now,  though  once  forest- 
grown,  for  the  ground  was  strewn  with  great  charred 
and  rotting  tree-trunks,  long  before  killed  by  fire,  he 
followed  the  ridge  toward  higher  land,  and  gradually 
climbing,  at  last  reached  a  commanding  height,  from 
which  he  saw  t:.e  beautuul  Jackson's  Lake,  and  its 
lovely  surroundings. 

To  the  eastward  the  Red  Mountain  Ridge,  rising 
above  him,  cut  off  the  view,  but  northeast  he  could 
see  the  valley  of  Snake  River,  broad  near  at  hand, 
but  narrowing  further  off,  until  the  mountains,  closing 
in,  hid  the  silver  ribbon  of  the  stream's  course.  To 
the  west  were  the  splendid  gray  and  white  masses  of 
the  Teton  range,  low  and  rounded  toward  the  north, 
with  long  easy  ridges  of  moderate  steepness,  and 
crowned  with  great  fields  of  snow.  Toward  the  south- 
ward the  mountains  became  more  and  more  abrupt, 


I20  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

until  at  last  the  highest  peak  of  all,  Jack  knew  must 
be  the  Grand  Teton.  From  this  pinnacle  the  ridge 
gradually  sank  away  again,  becoming  lower  and  lower 
in  the  blue  and  misty  distance.  Immediately  under 
the  ridge,  and  south  of  where  Jack  stood,  was  Jack- 
son's Lake.  He  had  often  heard  Hugh  speak  of 
Jackson's  Hole  and  Jackson's  Lake,  spots  for  many 
years  hardly  known  to  white  men,  and  about  which 
most  marvelous  stories  were  told.  Here,  men  used  to 
say  —  the  miners  that  the  streams  were  paved  with 
nuggets  of  gold,  the  trappers  that  the  rivers  and  for- 
ests abounded  in  fur,  the  hunters  that  game  was  so 
abundant  and  so  tame  that  there  was  always  plenty  to 
eat,  and  the  camp  never  starved ;  and  now  this  wonder- 
ful region  lay  before  him. 

And  yet  he  knew  that  within  the  past  few  years 
many  people  had  passed  through  this  place.  He 
knew  that  the  miners  had  washed  the  sands  of  the 
rivers,  but  found  that  they  did  not  pay;  that  trappers 
had  caught  the  beaver  and  the  marten,  and  had  soon 
trapped  almost  all  of  them.  Now  it  was  for  him  to 
find  whether  the  game  was  as  plenty  as  had  been  said. 

At  all  events,  Jackson's  Lake  with  the  wide  meadows 
that  surrounded  it,  and  the  superb  mountains  that 
walled  it  in  on  one  side,  made  this  a  lovely  spot. 
The  lake  shone  in  the  sunlight  like  a  sheet  of  silver, 
and  was  dotted  with  pine-clad  islands.  On  the  west  its 
waters  flowed  close  beneath  the  great  mountains 
which  rose  above  it,  but  on  the  other  three  sides  a 
belt  of  forest  grew  close  to  the  water,  and  back  of 
this  belt,  broad  meadow  lands,  with  groups  of  trees 
and  low  rounded  clumps  of   willows,  looked    almost 


ACROSS  THE  CONTINENTAL  DIVIDE     121 

like  a  park.  Further  to  the  eastward  bare  ridges  rose 
higher  and  higher,  forming  the  foothills  of  the  main 
range,  and  still  further  to  the  east  and  southeast  were 
massive  mountains,  more  distant  —  and  so  seeming 
lower  —  than  the  Teton  Range,  but  which  were  the 
Continental  Divide.  Jack  looked,  and  looked,  and 
enjoyed  this  beautiful  view  ;  but  after  a  little  he  real- 
ized that  time  was  passing,  and  that  he  must  move  on, 
and  do  his  hunting,  and  get  to  camp. 

He  crossed  the  ridge,  and  began  to  ride  down  the 
side  of  the  mountain  toward  the  south,  following  the 
crest  of  a  hog-back,  which  would  take  him  down  to 
the  valley  of  the  lake  by  a  gentle  slope.  Below,  and 
to  his  left,  was  a  narrow  valley,  in  which  stood  green 
timber,  and  among  the  green  timber  much  that  was 
dead  and  much  that  was  down. 


CHAPTER   IX 

AN  ELK  HUNT   UNDER  THE   TETONi 

He  was  riding  along  slowly,  letting  Pawnee  make 
his  own  way  among  the  loose  rocks  and  tree-trunks, 
when  he  caught  sight  of  an  animal  standing  with  its 
tail  toward  him,  in  a  little  opening  among  the  trees. 
For  an  instant  he  thought  it  was  a  buckskin  horse, 
and  the  idea  flashed  through  his  mind  that  there  must 
be  a  camp  down  there.  Almost  before  the  thought 
had  taken  form,  the  animal  moved  a  little,  and  he  saw 
that  it  was  an  elk.  He  slipped  off  his  horse  on  the 
side  furthest  from  the  animal,  and  led  Pawnee  out  of 
sight  behind  a  clump  of  pines,  and  left  him  there. 
Then  he  crept  back  to  the  ridge.  In  the  timber 
below  he  soon  made  out  half-a-dozen  elk,  and  as  he 
watched,  he  could  see  quite  a  large  bunch  of  cows  and 
calves.  He  lay  there,  watching  and  waiting.  The 
drop  down  the  hill  into  the  valley  was  very  steep,  and 
he  was  hoping  that  the  elk  might  move  into  some 
position  where  he  would  not  have  to  go  down  to 
them.  They  seemed  uneasy  and  suspicious,  and  pres- 
ently something  startled  them,  and  they  ran  a  little 
way,  and  then  stopped,  looking  back  up  the  valley. 
Two  big  heifers  stood  almost  side  by  side  facing  oppo- 
site ways,  with  their  shoulders  close  together,  and 
their  heads  in  such  position  that  their  necks  seemed 


AN  ELK  HUNT  UNDER  THE  TETONS     123 

to  cross.  Jack  raised  his  gun  and  took  a  careful  sight 
at  the  necks,  just  below  the  heads,  and  pulled  the 
trigger.  One  of  the  cows  dropped  instantly,  while 
the  other,  standing  a  moment  to  look,  turned  and  ran 
ofT.  He  heard  the  elk  crashing  through  the  timber  of 
the  valley,  and  then  saw  them  climbing  the  bald  hills 
on  the  other  side,  stopping  every  little  while  to  look 
back,  and  at  last  walking  slowly  off  over  the  hills. 

A  convenient  side  ridge  gave  Pawnee  a  good  road 
down  to  where  the  cow  had  fallen,  but  she  had  rolled 
far  down  the  hill,  and  finally  had  stopped  on  a  little 
level  place.  She  was  quite  dead.  The  animal  was 
rather  large  for  Jack  to  handle,  but  with  some  trouble 
he  managed  to  cut  off  her  hams  and  sirloins,  and 
tying  the  two  hams  together  by  the  gambrel  joints, 
he  balanced  them  on  his  saddle,  and  then  tying  the 
sirloins  on  behind,  set  out  on  foot  for  camp.  There 
was  much  scrambling  up  steep  hillsides,  and  down 
others  quite  as  steep,  and  some  working  through  the 
thick  underbrush,  before  he  came  out  into  the  open 
lake  valley.  Here  progress  was  more  rapid.  Jack 
walked  swiftly,  and  Pawnee  followed  close  behind. 
After  a  time  he  came  on  the  trail  made  by  the  pack 
train,  some  hours  before,  and  hurrying  along  this, 
presently  saw  in  the  distance  what  looked  like  a 
house.  Before  he  reached  it,  however,  the  trail  that 
he  was  following  turned  sharply  to  the  right,  and  led 
down  toward  the  river,  two  or  three  miles  below  the 
lake. 

As  he  approached  the  tall  cotton-wood  timber, 
which  he  supposed  grew  on  the  shores  of  the  river,  he 
saw  the  horses  feeding  close  to  it,  and  before  long  the 


124  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

cone  of  the  lodge  showed  through  the  leaves,  and  a 
little  later  he  stopped  by  the  fire. 

"  Good  boy,"  said  Hugh.  "  I'm  mighty  glad  to  get 
that  meat.  That'll  keep  us  going  for  quite  a  while, 
and  now  that  we've  got  fresh  meat,  and  dried  meat 
and  fish,  we  're  bound  to  live  well." 

"Animal's  in  good  order,  too,"  he  continued,  as  he 
began  to  lift  the  meat  from  the  saddle.  "  I  expect 
you  picked  out  a  heifer,  didn't  you  ?  " 

"Well,"  said  Jack,  "  I  tried  to,  but  I  wasn't  sure 
that  it  wasn't  an  old  cow  until  I  put  a  knife  into  her. 
The  only  thing  I  was  sure  of  was  that  she  had  no  calf." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  it's  a  nice  piece  of  meat,  and 
I'm  mighty  glad  you  got  it." 

"What's  that  house  that  I  see  up  there,  Hugh? 
Nobody  lives  here  now,  does  there  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  reckon  that's  some  kind  of  a 
shelter  or  stable,  built  by  hunters  or  prospectors,  for 
their  horses  in  fly-time.  Flies  are  pretty  bad  here 
now,  and  I  reckon  close  about  this  lake  the  green, 
heads  must  be  enough  to  drive  the  horses  crazy.  I 
noticed  to-day  when  we  were  crossing  some  points  of 
that  meadow  up  above  that  they  were  bad.  If  it 
had  n't  been  for  that,  I  reckon  we'd  have  camped  up 
there  by  the  lake.  It's  an  awful  sightly  spot,  but 
there  were  too  many  flies." 

Supper  was  almost  ready,  and  they  feasted  royally 
that  night  on  trout  and  the  fat  sirloins  of  the  elk ;  and 
after  the  meal  was  over,  it  was  pleasant  to  sit  round 
the  big  camp-fire  that  Jack  and  Joe  built  out  in  front 
of  the  lodge,  and  watch  the  blaze,  and  listen  to  the 
murmur  of  the  river  as  it  hurried  over  the  stones,  just 


AN  ELK  HUNT  UNDER  THE  TETONS     125 

beyond  the  camp.  Every  stick  tossed  on  the  burning 
pile  sent  a  great  cloud  of  sparks  soaring  upward 
to  disappear  among  the  dark  green  foliage  of  the 
spruces,  which  here  grew  among  the  taller  cotton- 
woods.  The  warmth  of  the  fire  was  grateful;  the 
willows  and  cottonwoods  and  spruces  all  about  their 
camp  sheltered  them  from  the  strong  wind  which  still 
blew  down  the  valley  ;  and  Jack,  as  he  lay  stretched 
out  on  the  ground  between  Joe  and  Hugh,  thought 
that  he  never  could  have  a  happier  time  than  that 
very  moment. 

"  Now,  boys,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  don't  know  how  you 
feel  about  it,  but  it  strikes  me  this  is  a  terrible  nice 
place  to  stop  for  a  day  or  two.  This  is  a  good  camp, 
and  these  mountains  right  opposite  to  us  are  things  I 
like  to  look  at.  What  do  you  say  to  our  stopping 
here,  say  for  one  day,  anyhow  ;  and  maybe  to-morrow 
we'll  take  a  little  ride  across  the  river,  and  get  closer 
to  these  mountains,  and  see  something  of  what  they 
look  like.  I'd  like  mighty  well  to  look  at  them  long 
enough  to  kind  o'  carry  a  remembrance  of  them  back 
with  me  to  the  ranch." 

"  Well,"  said  Jack,  "  let's  do  that.  There's  no  rea- 
son for  our  hurrying;  we've  got  plenty  of  grub,  and  I 
think  we'd  all  like  to  stay  here  for  one  day,  anyhow." 

*'  Now,  there's  two  things  we  can  do,"  said  Hugh. 
"We  ain't  made  up  our  minds  how  we'll  go  home; 
but  we  can  cross  the  range  in  a  whole  lot  of  different 
places.  We  can  either  follow  down  Snake  River  for  a 
way,  and  then  work  up  one  of  the  creeks,  and  go  over 
and  strike  the  head  of  Wind  River,  and  follow  that 
down,   or  we  can  go  back  to  the  park,  and  then  cut 


120  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

across,  and  get  down  onto  Stinking  Water,  and  then 
go  back  on  the  prairie.  My  idea  is  that  we'll  do 
better  to  keep  on  south,  and  try  to  go  straight  on  oui 
course.  We  can  either  go  up  Buffalo  Fork,  and  then 
strike  across  to  the  head  of  the  Wind  River,  and  fol- 
low that  down ;  or  go  down  and  follow  up  the  Gros 
Ventre,  and  get  across  some  way  there.  We  don't 
have  to  make  up  our  minds  to-day;  we  can  settle  that 
to-morrow  night.  Let's  agree  that  we'll  stop  here  to- 
morrow, and  then  to-morrow  night  decide  what  we'll 
do." 

"  All  right,"  said  both  boys. 

When  the  three  friends  got  up  next  morning,  and 
went  to  the  stream  to  wash,  they  could  see  nothing  of 
the  great  range  beneath  which  they  were  camped,  for 
the  tall  spruce  trees  which  grew  on  the  opposite  bank 
cut  off  the  view  of  everything  beyond.  After  break- 
fast  they  saddled  up  and  having  picketed  two  of  the 
pack  horses,  set  out  to  cross  the  river,  and  to  get 
nearer  to  the  mountains.  The  river  was  wide,  and  so 
deep  that  the  water  came  almost  up  to  the  saddle 
blankets,  but  they  crossed  comfortably  enough,  and 
riding  through  the  open  dry  timber  of  the  bottom, 
before  long  were  approaching  the  high  bluffs  which 
formed  the  first  terrace  above  the  river.  In  the 
bottom  were  many  tracks  of  deer  and  elk,  some  of  the 
deer  tracks  quite  fresh;  and  they  almost  rode  over  a 
huge  old  porcupine,  which  waddled  awkwardly  to  one 
side,  and  then  stopped  among  some  low  rose  bushes, 
with  its  head  between  its  forefeet,  its  quills  erect,  and 
its  tail  thrashing  about  in  a  threatening  way.  Jack 
stopped  his  horse  and  said  to  Hugh  : 


AN  ELK  HUNT  UNDER  THE  TETONS     127 

"  Hugh,  is  there  anything  in  that  story  that  porcu- 
pines  throw  their  quills  ?  I've  heard  lots  of  people 
say  it  is  so,  and  then  other  people  say  it  isn't." 

Hugh  drew  his  horse  up,  and  turning  in  his  saddle 
said,  "Why  no,  son,  there's  nothing  in  that;  though 
I've  heard  plenty  of  men  who  ought  to  know  a  heap 
better  say  that  there  was.  Take  a  stick  and  go  right 
up  close  to  that  fellow,  and  poke  him  with  it,  and 
then  bring  it  to  me." 

Jack  picked  up  a  dead  branch,  and  going  to  the 
porcupine,  poked  him  in  the  sides  and  back,  and  when 
he  did  this  the  porcupine  thrashed  his  tail  about  more 
vigorously  than  ever,  and  two  or  three  times  struck 
the  stick.  Leaving  him.  Jack  went  to  Hugh,  carrying 
the  stick  in  his  hand,  and  Hugh  said,  "Look  at  the 
end  of  that  stick  now,  and  see  those  quills."  The  end 
of  the  stick  was  pierced  by  a  dozen  or  twenty  sharp, 
strong  quills,  and  Jack,  taking  hold  of  one  and  trying 
to  pull  it  out,  found  that  the  point  was  firmly  fastened 
in  the  wood,  so  that  it  required  quite  a  little  effort  to 
pull  it  out. 

"  Now,  son,"  said  Hugh,  "  a  porcupine,  as  you  have 
seen,  is  slow,  and  can't  run  away.  His  back  and  sides 
and  tail  are  covered  with  these  quills,  which  are 
mighty  sharp,  and  which  have  little  stickers  pointing 
back  toward  the  root,  so  that  if  a  quill  gets  fast  in 
the  flesh,  it  is  a  very  hard  matter  to  pull  it  out  again. 
If  a  quill  gets  stuck  in  an  animal's  head  or  foot,  it 
keeps  working  forward  all  the  time;  it  never  works 
backward  and  comes  out  ;  it  has  to  go  through  to  the 
other  side.  Most  animals  know  that  it  isn't  good  to 
fool  with  a  porcupine.     The  only  way  to  kill  him  is  to 


128  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

turn  him  over  on  his  back,  and  get  at  his  throat  and 
belly,  which  are  not  covered  with  quills.  When  a 
porcupine  sees  an  animal  coming  he  holds  his  body 
close  to  the  ground,  makes  his  quills  stand  up  all  over 
him,  and  thrashes  around  with  his  tail,  which  is  pretty 
well  covered  with  quills  too.  His  tail  is  strong,  and 
he  can  hit  a  hard  blow  with  it ;  and  so  you  see  he's 
pretty  well  defended.  The  quills  are  not  set  deep  in 
the  skin  ;  they  are  loose,  and  they  pull  out  mighty 
easy;  you  see  that  just  by  poking  the  porcupine  you 
got  that  stick  full  of  quills.  Sometimes  when  he 
thrashes  hard  with  his  tail  he  may  hit  a  piece  of  wood, 
or  may  knock  loose  some  of  the  quills  on  his  tail  so 
that  they  may  fly  a  little  distance  ;  but  as  for  throwing 
them  any  distance  from  his  body,  or  with  any  force, 
why  he  can't  do  it. 

"  I  have  had  dogs  that  would  tackle  porcupines^ 
and  when  they  did,  it  was  a  terrible  job  to  pull  the 
quills  out  of  them." 

"Well,"  said  Jack,  "I'm  glad  to  hear  all  that 
I've  been  told  of  dogs  tackling  porcupines,  up  in  the 
Adirondacks,  but  I  never  saw  one  that  had  been 
pierced  by  quills." 

"Most  docjs,"  said  Hugh,  "soon  learn  never  to 
bother  porcupines,  but  some  seem  never  to  learn,  and 
will  go  for  one  every  time  they  see  it.  Bears  some- 
times tackle  them,  and  so  do  lynx  and  panthers,  but 
they  say  the  greatest  animal  of  all  to  kill  a  porcupine 
is  a  fisher.  I've  seen  two  or  three  panthers  with  their 
jaws  full  of  quills.  I've  heard  people  say  that  the 
fisher  kills  them  by  turning  them  over  on  their  backs 
and  then  jumping  onto  the  belly,  bnt  I  never  saw  this 


AN  ELK  HUNT  UNDER  THE  TETONS     129 

•done  What  I  have  seen  is  fishers  with  lots  of  quills 
in  their  bodies  :  some  in  the  legs,  some  in  the  belly, 
and  some  in  the  sides.  And  the  Indians  say  that 
these  quills  don't  bother  them  at  all;  that  is  to  say, 
that  a  fisher  full  of  quills  don't  swell  up  the  way  a 
dog  or  a  panther  does.  The  porcupine  is  a  pretty 
stupid  beast,  but  its  effect  on  its  neighbors  is  quite 
interesting  " 

Jack  listened  with  much  attention  to  this  lesson  in 
natural  history,  and  they  mounted  and  rode  on  again. 

Soon  they  came  to  a  great  slough,  evidently  an  old 
beaver  meadow,  and  as  Hugh  drew  up  his  horse  and 
looked  at  it,  he  shook  his  head  : — "  Too  soft  for  us  to 
cross,  I  reckon  ,  we'll  have  to  go  round  some  other 
way.  There's  plenty  of  sloughs  and  mud-holes  in 
there  wiiere  our  horses  would  go  out  of  sight." 

They  turned  northward,  and  for  the  next  two  hours 
were  occupied  in  trying  to  make  their  way  out  to  the 
high  prairie.  At  frequent  intervals  they  came  to 
what  looked  like  a  tongue  of  hard  dry  land  extending 
out  to  the  bluffs,  but  after  following  it  for  a  little  dis- 
tance they  found  at  its  end  a  mud-hole,  which  obliged 
them  to  turn  back  and  take  another  road.  At  length 
they  reached  a  strip  of  hard  ground  which  led  them 
to  the  bluffs;  and  just  before  they  rode  up  the  steep 
ascent,  Hugh's  horse  started  from  the  ground  a  brood 
of  grouse,  which  scattered  in  all  directions,  many  of 
them  alighting  on  the  willows  and  spruce  branches 
close  to  tliem.  They  were  singularly  tame,  almost  as 
much  so  as  the  fool  hens  they  had  seen  farther  north, 
and  Jack  rode  up  to  within  three  or  four  feet  of  one, 
and  then  reached  out  his  gun  to  touch  it,  but  before 


f30  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

the  muzzle  was  within  a  foot  of  the  bird,  it  flew 
away. 

When  they  reached  the  higher  prairie  they  rode  off 
toward  the  range,  which  was  now  plainly  to  be  seen. 
There  were  three  principal  peaks,  the  names  of  which 
Hugh  gave  them.  One,  he  said,  was  Mount  Moran,  a 
great  square-topped  mass  of  granite,  with  two  or 
three  vast  snow  or  ice  banks  on  its  north  face.  To 
the  south  of  that  were  the  three  pinnacles  of  the 
Tetons,  whose  slender  summits  ran  far  up  into  the 
blue  sky.  The  prairie  over  which  they  were  now  rid- 
ing was  uneven  : — here  cut  by  dry,  grassy,  ancient 
water-ways,  there  with  mounds  of  great  extent  rising 
above  the  general  level.  There  was  much  gravel — 
some  of  it  very  large — which  looked  as  if  it  might  have 
been  carried  down  by  the  water.  Long  ridges  com- 
posed wholly  of  this  gravel  ran  for  long  distances  out 
from  the  foot  of  the  range,  and  were  now  for  the  most 
part  bare  of  timber,  having  been  burned  over.  On 
some  of  them  the  fire  had  spared  many  of  the  pines, 
and  young  aspen  timber  grew  on  their  slopes.  The 
terraces  of  the  river's  flood-plain  rose  one  above 
another,  and  on  the  highest  of  all,  on  the  west  side, 
were  groups  of  evergreen  trees,  and  now  and  then  a 
single  pine  standing  alone  in  the  wide  sage-plain. 
Scattered  about  over  the  prairie  were  many  antelope. 

They  rode  on  toward  the  mountains,  trying  to  get 
up  high  enough  so  as  to  look  down  on  Jackson's 
Lake,  which  runs  in  close  to  the  foot  of  Mount 
Moran;  but  the  ridges  became  higher  and  higher, 
more  and  more  timber  grew  on  them,  and  cut  off  the 
view,  so  that  at  length  they  gave  up  the  effori-  and 


AN  ELK  HUNT  UNDER  THE  TETONS     131 

turned  off  to  one  side  to  ride  through  the  timber. 
Here  were  many  fresh  elk  tracks  and  trails,  some 
made  the  night  before,  and  some  since  daylight  ;  and 
here,  quite  unexpectedly,  as  they  rode  over  a  ridge  a 
little  higher  than  any  that  they  had  yet  passed,  a  fine 
view  was  had  of  the  southern  end  of  Jackson's  Lake. 
It  seemed  to  wind  and  twist  about  among  its  points 
and  islands,  and  sent  out  long  and  narrow  finger-like 
bays  into  the  hills  in  a  most  curious  way.  A  little 
further  on  they  saw  from  a  hill-top  another  lake,  not 
nearly  so  large  as  Jackson's,  but  still  perhaps  two 
miles  long.  It  was  surrounded  by  dense  forest,  and 
reflected  the  great  peaks  which  overhung  it.  Here 
they  dismounted  for  a  while  to  look  at  the  range, 
which  was  now  plainly  seen. 

"Big  mountains,  ain't  they,  son  ? '*  said  Hugh,  as 
they  sat  tliere  looking  up  at  them. 

"Yes,  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "they're  awful  big,  and 
how  bare  and  gray  they  are.  There  seems  to  be  a 
little  timber  in  small  patches,  but  except  for  that, 
there  doesn't  seem  to  be  anything  growing  on  them  at 
all ;  they  are  just  rocks  with  snow  on  top  and  in  the 
ravines." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  expect  for  the  most  part 
that  rock  is  so  steep  that  the  snow  can't  lie  there. 
Even  if  the  wind  don't  blow,  just  as  soon  as  any 
weight  of  snow  falls  on  the  rocks  it  slips  off. 

"Have  you  got  your  glasses  with  you,  son?"  he 
continued,  and  when  Jack  had  handed  them  to  him, 
he  looked  through  them  and  said  :  "  I  thought  so. 
Do  you  know,  son,  that  snow  up  there  in  those  high- 
est ravines  isn't  snow  at  all,  it's  ice  ;  just  like  them 


132  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

glaciers  that  we  have  up  there  in  the  mountains  to  the 
northo  Look  through  the  glasses,  and  you  can  see 
the  cracks  on  the  lower  border,  and  you  can  see  too 
that  it  is  blue,  and  not  white  like  snow." 

Jack  and  Joe  both  looked  through  the  glasses  and 
saw  what  Hugh  meant,  and  both  were  reminded  of 
the  masses  of  ice  that  they  had  seen  in  the  mountains 
of  the  north,  the  year  before. 

It  was  pleasant,  sitting  in  the  warm  sun  and  looking 
up  at  this  wonderful  scenery,  but  at  last  they  caught 
up  their  horses,  and  mounted  and  rode  back  to  the 
camp.  As  they  were  going  along  side  by  side,  down 
the  wide  point  of  a  ridge,  a  great  brown  deer  bounced 
out  from  an  aspen  thicket  on  Joe's  side  and  ran 
down  tiie  ravine.  Joe  sprang  from  his  horse  and 
raised  his  gun  to  shoot,  but  just  as  he  did  so  she 
sprang  into  a  little  gully,  so  that  Joe  could  see  only 
her  ears  as  she  raced  along.  She  followed  the  ravine 
down  and  was  not  seen  again. 

Hugh  and  Jack  both  laughed  at  Joe,  and  told  him 
that  he  should  have  stayed  on  his  horse,  for  from 
their  point  of  view  on  horse-back,  the  doe's  body  had 
been  in  sight  for  quite  time  enough  to  shoot. 

When  they  reached  the  level  bottom,  they  rode  out 
close  to  the  river,  and  keeping  along  the  bank  found 
firm  ground  all  the  way  to  the  camp.  There  remained 
still  some  hours  of  daylight,  and  both  boys  got  out 
their  lines  and  began  to  fish,  catching  a  number  of 
fine  and  heavy  trout.  Just  as  they  were  about  to  go 
to  camp  with  their  catch,  a  flock  of  seven  wild  geese 
flew  up  the  river,  calling  loudly,  and  after  they  had 
passed  a  little  beyond  the  boys,  Joe  began  to  honk  in 


AN  ELK  HUNT  UNDER  THE  TETONS     133 

response,  and  presently  the  great  birds  turned  about 
and  came  back,  flying  directly  over  the  boys,  looking 
down  at  them,  as  if  to  see  who  it  was  that  was  talking 
to  them.  The  air  was  cool  and  damp  after  dark  and 
they  sat  about  the  fire  in  the  lodge.  A  great  horned 
owl  a  little  way  down  the  river  was  hooting  regularly, 
and  Joe  said,  "  We're  going  to  have  a  storm." 

"Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "I  hear  him  now,  and  I  heard 
him  last  night.  I  reckon  we're  going  to  have  change 
of  weather." 

"  What  do  you  mean,  Hugh  ?  "  said  Jack,  "  has  the 
owl  anything  to  do  wnth  the  weather?" 

"Well  no,  son,  I  don't  know  that  he  has  ;  but  some 
of  the  Indians  say  that  if  you  hear  an  owl  calling  it 
means  a  storm's  coming." 

It  was  raining  the  next  morning  when  Jack  thrust 
his  head  from  under  his  blankets,  and  as  the  fire  had 
not  been  started,  and  nobody  seemed  to  be  moving, 
he  knew  that  this  day  also  would  be  spent  in  camp. 
When  he  went  out  of  the  lodge  the  ground  was 
covered  with  an  inch  of  very  wet  snow,  and  the 
weather  seemed  to  be  trying  to  make  up  its  mind 
whether  it  would  rain  or  no.  Big  wet  flakes  were  fall- 
ing in  a  mixture  of  rain  and  snow,  and  moisture  was 
everywhere. 

After  breakfast,  Hugh  cut  some  crotches  and  poles, 
and  with  the  ropes  and  two  of  the  mantas  made  a 
very  good  shelter,  under  which  they  built  an  outdoor 
fire.  By  this  they  sat  for  a  long  time,  discussing  vari- 
ous matters,  and  then,  since  the  rain  had  stopped, 
Jack  went  down  to  the  stream  and  began  to  fish.  He 
caught  a  few  fish  weighing  from  three  quarters  of  a 


134  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

pound  to  a  pound,  and  there  were  enough  of  them 
to  make  it  interesting.  The  small  ones  seemed  to 
trouble  his  hook  very  little,  and  one  or  two  little  ones 
that  he  caught  he  shook  off  before  getting  them  to 
shore.  Suddenly,  after  a  long  cast  that  he  had  made 
out  toward  the  middle  of  the  stream,  a  huge  fish  rose 
to  his  fly,  but  in  its  eagerness,  missed  and  sprang  over 
the  fly  showing  its  full  length  out  of  the  water.  This 
was  such  a  fish  as  Jack  had  not  seen  before,  and  he 
was  very  anxious  to  get  it.  He  cast  again  over  the 
same  spot,  and  this  time  drew  in  his  line  a  little  more 
slowly.  The  great  fish  rose  again,  and  just  at  the 
right  moment  Jack  struck,  and  had  him  fast. 

For  a  moment  the  fish  did  nothing,  but  then  came 
a  fight  the  like  of  which  Jack  had  never  witnessed. 
The  fish  made  a  strong  rush  toward  the  deepest  water 
of  the  rapid,  and  twice  on  his  way  there  he  sprang 
into  the  air,  shaking  his  head  savagely  to  rid  himself 
of  the  steel  that  was  biting  his  jaw.  Then  he  turned 
about  and  rushed  back  toward  the  bank,  again  throw- 
ing himself  out  of  the  water.  Jack  was  excited,  but 
was  trying  to  keep  cool.  Whenever  the  fish  gave 
him  an  opportunity  he  took  in  line,  and  when  the  fish 
ran  he  gave  him  as  little  as  possible. 

Suddenly  the  trout  started  down  the  river  at  great 
speed,  so  fast  that  Jack  was  afraid  to  check  him,  and 
started  racing  after  him,  running  over  the  slippery 
stones  of  the  beach,  and  through  the  pools  of  water 
left  by  the  river.  Presently  the  fish  stopped,  and 
refused  to  move,  and  Jack  recovered  all  the  line  that 
he  could,  and  then  began  to  try  to  move  the  fish. 
Now  it  began  to  give  a  series  of  tugging  jerks  on  the 


AN  ELK  HUNT  UNDER  THE  TETONS     135 

line,  as  if  it  were  bending  itself  from  side  to  side  in 
the  water;  then  it  began  to  throw  itself  over  and 
over,  as  if  trying  to  twist  the  line;  and  then  it  would 
rush  off,  as  if  striving  to  break  it.  As  the  splendid 
fish  grew  tired,  Jack  worked  it  nearer  and  nearer  to 
the  beach;  but  he  had  no  net  and  of  course  could  not 
lift  it  from  the  water.  After  looking  about  a  little 
he  found  a  place  where  the  beach  was  shelving,  and 
laying  down  his  rod,  he  drew  the  fish  out  by  the 
leader  and  soon  had  it  safely  in  his  hand.  It  was 
a  handsome  fish,  deep  and  thick,  and  yet  graceful  in 
all  its  lines,  and  it  seemed  to  Jack  as  big  as  a  North 
River  shad.  As  soon  as  it  was  killed.  Jack  took  his 
rod  and  started  back  to  the  camp  for  he  wished  to 
show  them  there  the  biggest  trout  that  he  had  ever 
seen. 

White  clouds  hung  low  over  the  valley  and  hid  the 
mountains  on  either  side  ;  but  as  Jack  walked  along 
the  beach  the  western  sky  grew  lighter,  and  for  a  few 
moments  the  sun  struggled  to  shine  through  the 
clouds.  Then  suddenly,  far  down  the  valley  the 
white  wall  that  shut  out  the  view  broke  away,  and 
Jack  could  see  the  great  mountain  mass  of  the  Teton 
Range.  He  stopped  and  gazed,  waiting  for  the  rent 
to  close  up  again.  Through  it  he  could  see,  like  a 
picture  in  its  frame,  the  mountains,  not  dark  and  gray 
as  they  had  been  yesterday,  but  white  now,  in  all 
the  purity  of  new-fallen  snow.  As  he  looked,  the 
break  in  the  clouds  moved  rapidly  northward,  expos- 
ing one  mountain  after  another,  each  seeming  more 
beautiful  than  the  one  seen  just  before.  A  wreath  of 
mist  hung  around  and  concealed   the  needle  peak  of 


136  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

the  Grand  Teton,  adding  to,  rather  than  taking  away 
from  its  height.  The  rift  in  the  clouds  passed  north- 
ward, and  after  it  had  shown  him  Mount  Moran,  it 
closed  again  and  the  white  vapor  cut  off  the  view. 
Jack  had  seen  the  glories  of  the  Tetons,  snow-clad. 
He  returned  to  camp. 


CHAPTER   X 

TRAILING  BLACK-TAILS 

It  was  pleasant  that  night  after  supper  was  over,  as 
they  lay  about  the  briglit  fire  in  the  lodge.  During 
the  afternoon,  while  Jack  had  been  fishing,  Joe  had 
split  fine  a  lot  of  dry  cottonwood  sticks,  and  a  good 
pile  of  them  lay  within  the  lodge  door,  just  to  its 
left.  The  fire  blazed  and  crackled  merrily  and  the 
draft  was  good,  so  that  there  was  no  smoke  even  in 
the  top  of  the  lodge. 

Joe  said  to  Jack,  "Jack,  have  you  seen  all  this  old 
beaver  work  up  north  of  the  camp?" 

"No,"  said  Jack,  "I  have  seen  plenty  of  small 
beaver  cuttings.  There  have  been  lots  of  beaver 
here,  but  I  haven't  seen  any  big  work." 

"Well,"  said  Joe,  "you'd  better  go  up  fifty  yards 
from  the  camp,  and  you'll  see  there  bigger  trees  cut 
down  by  the  beaver  than  I've  ever  seen,  and  I've  seen 
some  beaver  work  in  my  day.  Why,  there's  cotton- 
wood  logs  there  cut  down  by  the  beaver  that  are 
bigger  lound  than  my  body,  and  I  believe  they're 
more  than  a  foot  through.  You  surely  ought  to  see 
them." 

"  Well,"  said  Jack,  "  I  will  in  the  morning." 

"This  used  to  be  a  great  place  for  fur,  didn't  it 
Hugh?" 


F38  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

"Yes,**  said  Hugh,  "I  expect  when  the  white  men 
first  came  in  here  that  beaver  were  awful  plenty. 
Wherever  I've  been  since  I  came  into  this  valley  I've 
seen  lots  of  old  work  but  not  much  new  work.  All 
the  same,  these  sticks  that  Joe  is  talking  about  are 
not  very  old ;  they  were  cut  down  only  a  few  years 
ago.  I  guess  'twas  a  great  fur  country.  But,  Lord  ! 
I've  told  you  about  the  stories  that  people  used  to  tell 
about  Jackson's  Lake.  They  used  to  say  that  pretty 
nearly  everything  good  in  the  mountains  was  to  be 
found  here,  and  plenty  of  it. 

"  Do  you  know,  boys,"  Hugh  continued,"  I've  about 
made  up  my  mind  what  we'd  better  do?  Now,  we 
don't  know  the  country  here,  none  of  us,  but  I  expect 
we  can  find  our  way  around  pretty  well  with  the  pack- 
train.  I  think  the  best  thing  we  can  do  is  to  go  back 
to  that  last  big  creek  that  we  crossed,  and  follow  that 
up  to  its  head  ;  then  cross  the  mountains  there,  and 
get  over  onto  Wind  River;  and  then  we  can  follow 
Wind  River  down  ;  and  then  over  and  strike  Sweet- 
water,  and  follow  Sweetwater  down  to  the  Platte  ;  and 
then,  you  know,  we're  pretty  near  hom.e.  What  do 
you  say?  Would  either  of  you  rather  go  any  other 
way.,  or  will  you  leave  it  that  way?" 

The  boys  sat  silent  for  a  little  while,  and  then  Joe 
said,  "  I  think  it  will  be  good  to  do  as  Hugh  says  ;  he 
is  the  leader,  and  we  will  follow  him." 

"  I  think  so,  too,"  said  Jack.  "  Neither  of  us  boys 
knows  anything  about  the  country,  and  we  want  to 
do  just  what  you  think  is  best,  Hugh." 

"Well,"  said  Hugh,  "I  guess  that  is  best,  and  if 
you    say  so,  we'll  do  it ;  and  we'll    start    to-morrow 


TRAILING  BLACK-TAILS  139 

morning  if   the  weather  is  good  and   the  things  are 
dry." 

**  All  right,"  said  both  boys. 

The  next  morning  saw  the  little  train  following  its 
back  trail  up  Snake  River  for  a  few  miles,  when  Hugh 
turned  off  to  the  right,  and  entered  the  valley  of  a 
great  stream  which  rushed  down  from  the  Red  Moun- 
tain  Range.  The  hills  were  low  and  rounded  and 
composed  of  sand  and  gravel,  covered  with  grass  and 
sage-brush.  On  either  side,  from  time  to  time,  the 
stream  had  cut  into  the  hills  and  washed  away  the 
gravel,  and  its  bed  was  full  of  huge  boulders;  so  that 
it  was  necessary  for  them  to  keep  back  on  the  ridge, 
at  some  distance  from  the  water.  The  river  was  so 
large  and  along  it  there  were  so  many  evidences  of  a 
vast  body  of  water  running  down  through  this  valley 
in  the  spring,  that  it  seemed  evident  that  it  must  be  a 
very  long  stream,  and  must  drain  a  wide  area  of 
country.  Before  they  had  gone  very  far,  the  sun, 
which  had  been  shining,  went  behind  clouds;  it  began 
to  rain  hard  ;  and  before  long  they  began  to  get  wet. 
Early  in  the  day,  therefore,  Hugh  drew  up  his  horse 
in  the  shelter  of  some  spruces  on  a  little  bench  about 
thirty  feet  above  the  valley,  and  said,  "  Let's  camp, 
boys,  and  get  out  of  this  wet."  It  took  but  a  little 
time  to  put  up  the  lodge,  to  unsaddle,  get  things 
covered  and  a  fire  in  the  lodge,  and  also  one  outside 
under  a  shelter  of  manta,  so  that  they  were  soon  dry 
and  comfortable  again.  Jack  tried  the  fishing,  but 
the  fish  would  not  bite.  The  rain  continued,  and  by 
the  middle  of  the  afternoon  had  changed  to  snow,  and 
before  dark  the  ground  was  white.     When  they  went 


I40  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

to  bed  at  night  the  snow  was  still  falling  and  the 
weather  was  growing  colder. 

The  next  morning  the  snow  had  stopped,  but  it 
was  two  or  three  inches  deep  on  the  ground.  Every- 
thing was  wet,  and  it  looked  as  if  it  might  snow  again 
at  any  time.  Jack  got  tired  of  sitting  round  the  fire, 
and  watching  Hugh  fill  his  pipe,  and  light  it  and 
smoke  it  out,  and  then  fill  and  light  it  again,  and 
presently  he  proposed  to  Joe  that  they  should  go 
out  and  try  to  kill  a  deer.  Joe  was  ready  and  they 
started.  For  a  short  distance,  they  followed  the  trail 
up  the  river,  and  then  turning  to  the  left,  took  the 
first  ridge  and  began  to  climb  the  hill  on  the  north 
side  of  the  valley.  It  was  pretty  wet.  It  had  begun 
to  rain  again,  and  the  snow  was  damp,  and  under  the 
snow  there  seemed  to  be  an  inch  or  two  of  water. 
When  they  had  to  pass  through  willows  and  other 
underbrush,  these  wet  the  upper  parts  of  their  bodies. 
The  ground  was  soft  and  slippery,  and  the  down 
timber  and  the  loose  stones  made  walking  and  climb- 
ing quite  hard  work.  Nevertheless,  they  pushed 
on,  and  having  reached  the  top  of  the  ridge,  could 
see  beyond  other  ridges  toward  which  they  climbed. 

They  crossed  one  or  two  elk  tracks,  made  since  the 
snow  had  stopped  falling,  but  the  animals  were  going 
pretty  fast  and  they  did  not  follow  them.  A  few  deer 
tracks,  made  while  the  snow  was  falling,  tempted 
them  ;  but  they  did  not  follow  them  and  continued  to 
climb.  The  higher  they  went  the  harder  it  seemed  to 
rain,  and  every  little  while  a  heavy  fog  would  rise 
from  the  valley,  and  creeping  slowly  along  the  moun- 
tains would   shut    out    from    sight   one  hilltop    after 


TRAILING  BLACK-TAILS  141 

another,  until  it  reached  them  and  hid  everything  from 
their  sight.  There  was  a  little  breeze  blowing  from 
the  west,  and  these  fogs  did  not  last  long;  but  while 
they  were  about  them  the  boys  could  only  stand  still 
and  wait  for  the  mist  to  lift. 

As  they  climbed  they  saw  a  good  many  birds: 
flickers,  robins,  and  blue  snow-birds,  as  well  as  some 
other  western  birds  that  Jack  did  not  know. 

The  boys  climbed  hill  after  hill  for  several  hours, 
but  saw  nothing  but  tracks,  and  none  of  these  seemed 
worth  following.  At  last  Jack  turned  to  Joe  and  said, 
"What  do  you  say,  Joe,  shall  we  go  any  further? 
It's  pretty  cold,  and  we  can't  see  far,  and  perhaps  we 
might  as  well  go  down  the  hill  again  and  get  back  to 
camp." 

"  Well,"  said  Joe,  "  it's  pretty  cold  and  wet  up 
here  and  we  don't  see  much." 

They  turned  and  followed  the  ridge  they  were  on  for 
some  little  distance,  trying  to  see  down  into  the  valley, 
and  to  determine  just  where  the  camp  was.  As  they 
were  doing  this,  all  at  once  the  fog  lifted,  and  Jack  saw, 
a  little  way  before  them,  a  green  timbered  ridge  lead- 
ing down  into  the  valley,  pretty  near  where  the  camp 
should  be.  As  he  looked  down  into  the  valley.  Jack 
heard  Joe  whisper,  "  Hold  on  !  "  Jack  stopped,  slowly 
turned  his  head  and  threw  a  cartridge  into  his  gun, 
and  then  stood  motionless  ;  for  over  the  crest  of  the 
ridge  just  above  them  had  risen  the  horns,  head  and 
body  of  an  enormous  black-tailed  buck.  Almost  at 
once,  two  others,  much  smaller,  followed  him,  and  in 
a  moment  more  two  others,  one  nearly  as  large  as  the 
leader,  and  the  other  smaller,  came  up  to  the  top  of 


142  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

the  ridge  and  looked  over.  They  were  a  long  way 
off,  perhaps  three  hundred  yards,  and  neither  boy 
dared  move  for  fear  of  startling  them,  for  two  or  three 
jumps  would  have  taken  them  out  of  sight.  The 
great  leader  had  seen  the  boys  at  once,  but  could 
not  make  out  what  they  were,  and  perhaps  for  ten 
minutes  he  stood  there  and  watched.  He  was  not 
alarmed  or  suspicious,  but  these  two  upright  objects, 
w^hich  might  be  stumps  or  might  be  something  else, 
excited  his  curiosity,  and  he  kept  looking  at  them. 
The  deer  stood  on  the  very  crest  of  the  ridge,  with 
only  a  white  sky  for  a  background  ;  so  that  the  out- 
line of  his  graceful  form  and  large  branching  horns 
was  plainly  visible. 

While  he  stood  there  watching,  the  other  deer  wan- 
dered about,  now  taking  a  bite  of  grass  and  again 
giving  a  long  look  over  the  country.  One  of  the 
smallest  came  a  few  steps  down  the  face  of  the  ridge 
to  a  low  pine,  three  or  four  feet  in  height,  against 
which  he  began  to  rub  his  horns  and  head,  just  as  a 
deer  or  an  elk  does  when  ridding  the  antlers  of  the 
velvet,  or,  as  it  is  termed,  "  shaking."  The  large  one, 
next  in  size  to  the  leader,  came  still  further  down  the 
bluff  and  began  to  feed  at  a  bush  that  grew  there.  A 
third,  the  smallest  of  all,  was  very  playful  and  frisked 
about  almost  as  a  fawn  might  do. 

At  length,  after  his  long,  long  stare,  during  which 
the  boys  scarcely  breathed,  the  big  leader  seemed  sat- 
isfied. He  shook  himself,  and  then  turned  and  gave 
a  long  look  to  the  east  and  one  to  the  west ;  then  he 
lowered  his  head,  took  a  bite  of  some  weed,  and  step- 
ping proudly  along  the  ridge   for  a  few  yards,  turned 


TRAILING  BLACK-TAILS  143 

away  and  walked  out  of  sight.  While  he  was  doing 
this,  two  of  the  young  deer,  like  boys  when  the 
schoolmaster's  back  is  turned  and  they  feel  that  they 
can  begin  to  play,  backed  away  from  each  other,  and 
then  charged  each  other,  coming  together  vigorously, 
head  to  head.  It  did  not  seem  to  be  done  angrily,  but 
rather  in  sport,  and  one  of  them,  being  evidently  much 
the  stronger  of  the  two,  as  he  was  the  larger,  pushed 
the  other  a  few  feet  backward,  when  the  smaller  one 
sprang  lightly  out  of  the  way,  and  both  turned  and 
walked  off  after  the  big  buck. 

Four  of  the  deer  had  now  moved  out  of  sight,  and 
there  remained  only  the  large  one  feeding  on  the  hill- 
side. A  couple  of  dead  trees,  one  leaning  against  the 
other,  stood  sixty  or  seventy  yards  in  front  of  the 
boys,  between  them  and  the  deer,  and  it  seemed  pos- 
sible by  moving  up  behind  these  to  approach  within 
rifle-shot.  He  was  busily  eating,  and  when  he  had  his 
head  down  the  boys  whispered  to  each  other.  Jack 
said,  "  Let  us  sneak  up  behind  those  trees,  and  we  can 
get  near  enough  to  kill  him,  I  guess." 

"  Better  wait,"  said  Joe,  "  pretty  soon  he'll  go  of! 
over  the  hill,  and  then  we  can  follow  him,  and  get  one 
sure." 

But  Jack  had  not  yet  learned  the  patience  which 
makes  an  Indian  so  certain  of  his  game  ;  he  began  to 
make  a  slow  approach,  but  had  taken  only  a  few  steps 
when  suddenly  the  deer  stopped  feeding,  looked 
about  him,  walked  briskly  up  to  the  top  of  the  ridge, 
and  then  pausing  for  a  moment  to  see  where  his  com- 
panions were,  followed  them  over  the  ridge  and  out  of 
sight. 


144  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

At  last  the  coast  was  clear  ;  the  boys  hurried  toward 
the  ridge,  and  clambered  up  its  steep  face  with  breath- 
less haste.  When  they  reached  the  crest  they  cau- 
tiously looked  over,  but  saw  nothing,  and  still  as  they 
slowly  advanced  in  the  direction  which  the  deer  seemed 
to  have  taken,  the  game  was  not  seen.  They  were 
just  about  to  go  back  and  take  the  deers'  tracks,  when 
suddenly,  without  an  instant's  warning,  a  mountain 
hurricane  of  hail,  rain  and  snow  swept  down  upon 
them,  blotting  from  view  every  object  save  those 
directly  at  their  feet.  The  wind  blew  cold,  and  the 
rain  and  hail  pelted  them.  There  was  no  shelter,  and 
all  they  could  do  was  to  turn  their  backs  to  the  blast 
and  stand  there  waiting.  The  storm  lasted  but  a  few 
moments,  and  as  soon  as  it  was  over  they  started 
back,  and  soon  crossed  the  tracks  of  the  deer,  not  far 
from  the  ridge.  All  had  been  walking  slowly,  except 
the  last  one,  who  was  trotting  to  catch  up  with  the 
others.  The  trail  led  over  the  rolling  ground,  toward 
two  little  groups  of  spruces,  and  when  the  boys  saw 
these,  and  could  not  see  the  deer  on  the  open  ground 
beyond,  they  looked  at  each  other  and  nodded,  each 
feeling  sure  that  the  animals  would  be  found  in  this 
timber. 

They  were  still  a  hundred  yards  from  the  nearest 
clump  of  trees  when  Joe's  eye  caught  sight  of  some- 
thing moving  just  beyond  them,  and  almost  at  the 
same  time  Jack  saw  something  dark  move  against  the 
snow.  They  made  themselves  very  small,  and  keeping 
the  thick  foliage  of  the  trees  between  themselves  and 
the  deer,  crept  carefully  up  almost  to  the  timber.  Sud- 
denly, through  a  little  opening  in  the  branches,  Jack 


TRAILING  BLACK-TAILS  145 

saw  three  deer  standing  close  together  —  the  big 
leader  and  two  of  the  yearlings.  He  wanted  the 
leader,  of  course,  and  yet  he  could  see  only  his  head 
and  neck,  and  hesitated  to  shoot  at  the  neck,  for  he 
was  chilled  and  shaking  with  the  cold.  However,  he 
determined  to  risk  it,  and  looking  round  at  Joe  saw 
that  he  was  ready,  and  that  he  nodded.  Jack  fired, 
the  leader  disappeared,  and  a  moment  later  four 
deer  ran  out  over  the  snow,  beyond  the  trees,  and 
stopped  ;  and  as  they  turned  to  look  back,  Joe  fired, 
■and  killed  the  other  big  deer. 

"  Hurrah  !  "  said  Jack,  and  he  shook  Joe's  hand, 
"we've  surely  got  plenty  of  meat  now." 

"  Yes,"  said  Joe,  "  good  meat,  too." 

They  found  the  big  leader  lying  on  the  snow  just 
beyond  the  trees,  his  neck  broken,  and  the  other  big 
deer  not  more  than  fifty  yards  beyond  him. 

"Now,  Jack,"  said  Joe,  "I  tell  you  what  we'd 
better  do :  you  go  back  to  camp  and  get  two  pack 
horses,  and  fetch  'em  up  here,  and  I'll  butcher  these 
deer,  and  then  we  can  take  'em  back  to  the  camp 
to-night.     We  don't  want  to  make  two  trips." 

"  That's  so,"  said  Jack,  "  I'll  either  go  back  for  the 
horses  or  butcher,  whichever  you  like." 

"  No,"  said  Joe,  "  you  go  back,  and  when  I  get 
through  butchering  I'll  make  a  little  fire  here  and  dry 
off,  and  wait  for  you." 

"All  right,"  said  Jack,  "I'll  do  it.  I  don't  believe 
it'll  take  me  very  long  to  get  back  to  camp,  and  I'll 
be  back  here  in  an  hour  or  two,  anyhow." 

He  at  once  started,  and  was  £Oon  following  the 
green  timbered  ridge  down  to  the  stream.     When  he 


146  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

reached  there  he  found  that  camp  was  only  a  short 
distance  further  down  the  creek,  and  he  was  soon  stand- 
ing by  the  fire.  Hugh  had  heard  the  shots,  and  was 
not  surprised  when  Jack  told  them  that  they  had  two 
deer.  Jack  went  out  to  look  up  the  horses,  and  soon 
returned  with  two  of  them,  and  putting  saddles  on 
them,  mounted  one,  and  rode  off  up  the  hill  leading 
the  other. 


CHAPTER  XI 

TRACKS   IN   THE   SNOW 

Meantime  Joe  had  proceeded  with  his  butchering 
and  after  he  had  finished,  gathered  some  wood  and 
made  himself  a  little  fire.  It  took  some  time  to  do 
this,  for  almost  everywhere  the  wood  was  wet ;  but 
by  looking  carefully  he  found  some  dry  branches  that 
were  sheltered  by  the  foliage  above  them,  and  others 
that  lay  under  a  fallen  tree,  and  presently  he  had  a 
good  fire  lighted,  and  one  that  was  so  strong  that  he 
could  throw  wet  wood  on  it  and  it  would  soon  dry 
and  burn.  He  built  his  fire  in  a  sheltered  place,  and 
the  light  breeze  drifted  the  smoke  off  down  the 
stream.  Before  long  he  was  warm  and  dry.  After  he 
had  waited  a  while,  he  went  out  beyond  the  trees  and 
looked  off  toward  the  ridge  where  Jack  had  gone,  to 
see  whether  he  was  not  yet  coming  back,  but  he  saw 
nothing.  A  little  later  he  went  out  again  and  Jack 
was  not  yet  in  sight,  but  as  he  turned  about  he  saw 
coming  down  the  hill  about  half  a  mile  off,  thirteen 
elk,  mostly  cows  and  calves,  but  one  spikehorn,  and 
following  last  of  all  and  keeping  the  others  together 
a  monstrous  bull  with  a  great  pair  of  horns.  Of 
course  when  he  saw  them  Joe  stood  still.  The  elk 
had  come  down  from  some  higher  hill,  and  when  they 
came   to  where   the   snow  was   not   very    deep   they 


148  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

began  to  scatter  out  and  feed.  When  most  of  them 
had  passed  behind  the  point  of  hill  which  backed  the 
next  ridge  above  the  one  Joe  was  on,  he  began  to  move 
very  slowly  and  cautiously  toward  the  shelter  of  a 
clump  of  trees.  Every  now  and  then,  one  of  the  old 
cows  would  lift  her  head,  and  as  she  munched  the 
grass  that  she  had  just  plucked,  would  look  all  around 
the  horizon,  and  when  she  did  so,  Joe  stood  without 
moving  a  muscle.  Then  when  all  the  heads  were 
down  again,  he  very  slowly  moved  a  little  toward  his 
cover.  At  last  only  one  of  the  elk  was  in  sight,  and 
when  she  put  her  head  down  he  could  see  nothing 
but  her  back  and  hips,  and  two  or  three  steps  took 
him  out  of  sight  even  of  these.  Still  he  did  not  run, 
but  walked  slowly,  watching  closely  the  sky-Iine  above 
him,  for  at  any  moment  one  of  the  elk  might  walk  up 
there  to  look  over  the  country.  None  appeared,  how- 
ever, and  in  a  very  few  moments  he  was  hidden  by 
the  trees. 

Now  he  did  not  know  what  to  do.  His  first  idea 
was  to  creep  up  to  the  ridge  and  kill  some  of  the  elk, 
but  before  he  determined  that  he  would  do  this  he 
considered.  He  remembered  how  Hugh  often  spoke 
of  not  killing  anything  more  than  they  needed  to  eat, 
and  he  knew  that  these  deer  that  they  had  would  last 
them  for  a  long  time.  He  did  not  wish  to  do  any- 
thing that  Hugh  would  not  like,  and  so,  instead  of 
deciding  that  he  would  kill  anything,  he  took  his  gun 
and  walked  over  to  the  ridge,  to  look  at  the  elk.  He 
had  crept  up  to  the  top  of  the  hill  and  peered  over, 
and  was  watching  the  elk  feeding  not  far  in  front  of 
him  —  half  a  dozen  of  them  within  easy  rifle-range  — 


TRACKS  IN  THE  SNOW  149 

when  he  heard  a  faint  whoop  behind  him,  and  turning 
his  head  saw  Jack  coming  with  the  pack-horses. 
Slowly  creeping  back  a  little  way,  Joe  waved  to  him  to 
come  on,  and  to  hurry,  and  Jack  galloped  the  pack 
horses  over  to  the  foot  of  the  ridge,  and  at  a  sign 
from  Joe,  dismounted.  Then  he  crept  up  to  Joe  and 
they  both  lay  there  on  the  hill  and  watched  the  elk. 

It  was  a  pretty  sight,  and  an  interesting  one,  too. 
The  bull,  although  all  the  time  feeding,  seemed  to 
keep  close  watch  of  his  companions.  Once  in  a  while 
one  of  the  cows  would  stray  off  to  a  little  distance 
from  the  others,  and  the  bull  would  walk  over  toward 
her,  shaking  his  head  as  he  approached,  and  when  the 
cow  saw  this  she  turned  back  to  the  bunch  and 
joined  them  again.  Then  the  bull  began  to  feed 
once  more. 

"  Watch  him,"  said  Joe,  "  he's  a  pretty  good  herder, 
isn't  he?  He  won't  let  one  of  those  cows  wander 
away  ;  he's  afraid  that  somewhere  there  might  be 
some  other  old  bull  looking  for  cows,  that  would  take 
her  and  carry  her  off.  Pretty  smart  at  this  time  of 
year  they  are." 

While  they  were  watching  the  herd  as  they  fed 
along  a  little  beyond  them,  presently  some  eddy  of 
the  wind  brought  their  scent  to  the  cows  farthest 
down  the  stream,  and  they  lifted  up  their  heads,  and 
looked  for  a  moment ;  then  turned  and  trotted 
swiftly  away  up  the  hill.  As  soon  as  they  did  this, 
the  other  cows  began  to  look,  and  then  to  move  off; 
but  the  bull  seemed  to  understand  at  once  that  there 
was  danger  near  at  hand,  and  rushed  around  the  cows, 
thrusting  at  them  with  his  horns,  so  that  in  a  moment 


I50  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

they  were  all  in  motion,  and  swiftly  trotting  away. 
At  the  top  of  the  hill  the  cows  paused  to  look  back ; 
but  the  bull,  which  was  laboring  along  behind,  shook 
his  head  at  them,  and  they  began  to  run  again. 
When  the  elk  had  disappeared,  the  boys  rose  to  their 
feet,  and  then  realized  that  they  were  both  of  them 
chattering  with  cold.  The  breeze  was  blowing  harder 
now,  and  lying  on  the  hillside  exposed  to  it,  they  had 
both  become  chilled.  They  went  down  to  the  horses 
and  took  them  over  to  where  the  deer  lay  and  then 
built  up  the  fire  and  got  warm  again.  Then  they 
packed  the  deer  on  the  two  horses,  but  the  animals 
were  so  large  that  they  could  not  lift  them  without 
cutting  them  up  into  quarters.  At  last  the  loads  were 
arranged,  the  ropes  tightened,  and  they  started  down 
the  hill  toward  camp,  which  they  reached  just  before 
dark. 

Supper  was  ready,  and  as  soon  as  the  boys  had 
hung  up  their  meat  on  the  branches  of  a  tree,  and  had 
washed  their  hands  in  the  brook,  they  fell  to  eagerly. 
Not  much  was  said  during  the  meal,  but  after  it  had 
been  cleared  away  and  Hugh  had  filled  his  pipe  and 
was  sitting  by  the  fire  comfortably  smoking.  Jack  said 
to  him,  *'  Hugh,  we  had  a  mighty  nice  view  of  a 
bunch  of  elk  this  afternoon,  and  watched  them  for 
quite  a  while,  and  saw  the  old  bull  gather  up  the  cows 
and  drive  them  away  when  they  found  that  we  were 
there." 

"  Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "  haven't  you  ever  seen  a  bull 
do  that  before  ?" 

"  No,"  said  Jack,  "  I've  seen  plenty  of  elk  but  I 
never  happened  to  see  that." 


TRACKS  IN  THE  SNOW  151 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  you  know  the  bull  elk  is 
mighty  rough  with  his  cows,  after  he  has  gathered 
them  and  got  a  bunch,  and  what  is  more,  when  he  is 
looking  for  them  in  the  early  fall,  just  about  this  time, 
he  is  mighty  systematic  in  the  way  he  hunts  for  them. 
I've  sat  on  a  hill  and  seen  an  old  bull  hunt  out  a  lot 
of  ravines  in  the  elk  country  just  as  systematically  as 
a  cow-puncher  would  hunt  them  out  for  cattle.  He 
makes  a  regular  business  of  it,  and  after  he's  got  them 
together  he  don't  allow  any  straggling,  and  if  a  cow 
don't  mind  what  he  sa)^s,  and  he  can  catch  her,  he 
gives  her  a  terrible  thumping  with  those  old  horns  of 
his." 

*'  Well,  Hugh,  did  you  ever  see  two  bulls  fight  ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "  I've  seen  'em  do  that  a  good 
many  times.  I  reckon  I've  told  you  about  that 
before.  They  don't  fight  quickly  ;  they  're  not  active 
like  an  antelope  when  they're  fighting  :  but  they're 
mighty  powerful,  and  they  come  together  pretty  hard, 
and  then  they  just  push  and  push,  and  at  last,  if  the 
footing  is  good,  the  biggest  one  is  pretty  sure  to  push 
the  other  out  of  the  way,  and  if  the  smaller  one  doesn't 
hop  round  pretty  lively,  he  gets  a  good  punch  with 
the  horns.  I've  heard  tell  of  elk  killing  each  other 
when  they  fought ;  but  I  never  saw  anything  like  that, 
and  I  never  even  saw  an  elk  get  cut  up  with  the  horns 
of  an  animal  that  he  was  fighting  with.  Of  course  I 
never  had  a  chance  to  look  close  at  many  elk  that  I 
saw  fighting,  but  I  never  could  see  any  blood  or  any 
cuts.  An  elk-hide  is  pretty  thick,  and  I  guess  they 
just  scratch  and  bruise  each  other. 

"  I've    heard    of   elk-horns    being    locked,    same    as 


152  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

deer-horns  often  are,  but  I  never  myself  saw  but  one 
pair;  they  were  locked  and  you  could  not  pull  them 
apart.  I  heard  that  some  chap  bought  them,  up  on 
the  Missouri  River,  to  send  back  east  to  some 
museum." 

"  Well,  I  tell  you,  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "  I  don't  think 
much  of  elk,  anyhow,  except  to  eat.  You  remember 
that  tame  one  we  had  down  at  the  ranch  ?  There 
wasn't  anything  interesting  or  nice  about  him  ;  he 
Was  awkward  and  clumsy  and  mean.  Of  course  he 
looked  nice,  but  that  was  about  all." 

"  No,"  said  Hugh,  "  that's  so ;  elk  meat  is  good,  but 
that's  about  all  elk  are  good  for — to  eat." 

The  next  morning  the  sun  came  out  bright  and 
strong,  and  the  snow  began  to  melt  rapidly.  Lines 
were  strung  among  the  trees,  and  all  the  blankets, 
ropes  and  saddles,  which  had  been  more  or  less  wet 
during  the  last  day  or  two,  were  hung  up  to  dry.  The 
flesh  of  the  deer  was  sliced  into  thin  flakes,  and  hung 
up  on  scaffolds  made  by  Joe  and  Hugh,  and  under  this 
a  small  fire  was  made,  and  the  smoke  passing  under 
the  flakes  of  meat  partially  dried  it.  The  hams  and 
saddle  of  one  of  the  deer  were  kept  for  fresh  meat. 

"  I'd  like  to  get  off  this  afternoon,"  said  Hugh, 
toward  midday.  "  Of  course  it's  early  in  the  season 
yet,  and  no  heavy  snow  is  likely  to  fall ;  but  often  we 
have  a  storm  late  in  September  that  might  stop  us  for 
a  week,  and  I'd  be  pleased  if  we  could  get  over  the 
ridge  before  that  comes.  We  must  start  as  soon  as 
these  things  get  dry,  and  as  soon  as  that  meat  will  do 
to  pack  ;  it's  pretty  fat,  and  it  won't  dry  fast  in  this 
kind  of  weather ;  this  air  is  too  damp." 


TRACKS  IN  THE  SNOW  153 

In  the  effort  to  hurry  up  the  drying  process  they 
built  a  large  fire  near  the  wet  things  that  were  hung 
up,  and  as  the  heat  from  the  fire  and  from  the  sun 
grew  strong,  the  steam  rose  from  them.  A  little  after 
noon,  Hugh,  who  had  been  inspecting  the  things,  said, 
"Come  on,  now;  let's  saddle  up.  The  robes  and 
blankets  are  dry,  and  we'll  shove  this  meat  in  a  sack 
and  give  it  another  steaming  when  we  get  to  a  good 
place.  The  weather  is  cool  enough  now  so  that  it 
will  keep  until  we  get  over  the  range."  Before  long 
the  packs  were  lashed,  and  all  the  members  of  the 
party  were  in  the  saddle  and  pushing  their  way  up 
the  stream. 

There  was  now  no  visible  trail.  The  snow  covered 
everything,  and  though  it  was  dripping  fast  from  the 
trees  at  their  level,  they  could  see  that  on  the  higher 
hills  it  still  hung  thick  upon  the  branches.  From  time 
to  time  the  stream  narrowed,  so  that  they  were  obliged 
to  leave  it  and  climb  the  ridges,  which  often  afforded 
much  better  going  than  the  creek  bottom.  As  they 
climbed  higher  and  higher,  everything  was  draped  in 
white  ;  but  now  the  sun  went  behind  the  clouds,  and 
the  glare  of  the  white  snow  was  not  uncomfortable. 
Hugh  had  said  as  t'-y  started,  "You  boys  better 
take  and  blacken  your  faces;  I  am  going  to  do  it;" 
and  taking  some  charcoal  from  the  fire,  each  of  the 
party  rubbed  the  black  over  the  upper  parts  of  the 
face,  the  cheeks,  the  bridge  of  the  nose,  and  around 
the  eyes,  to  keep  the  glare  from  the  snow  from  affect- 
ing the  eyes. 

They  climbed  higher  and  higher,  and  as  they 
climbed,  the  stream  grew  smaller.    From  time  to  time 


154  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

they  reached  some  point  from  which  there  was  an 
extended  view,  showing  far-reaching,  snow-clad  moun- 
tains and  ever-green  forests  ;  and  ahead  of  them  the 
higli  peaks  of  the  main  divide,  with  precipices  of  bare 
black  rock,  to  which  the  snow  could  not  cling.  As 
they  passed  along.  Jack  noticed  frequent  tracks  of 
deer  and  elk,  and  others  of  smaller  animals  which  he 
did  not  recognize,  and  which  there  was  no  time  to  stop 
and  ask  about.  Hugh  rode  fast,  and  the  boys  kept 
the  animals  close  behind  him.  Often  for  a  little  dis- 
tance through  an  open  valley,  or  along  a  bare  ridge, 
Hugh  would  trot  or  gallop.  He  was  evidently  anxious 
to  get  on. 

It  was  growing  dark  when,  at  the  head  of  a  pretty, 
open  valley,  Hugh  turned  his  horse  into  the  timber, 
and  after  looking  around  for  a  moment,  said,  "We'll 
camp  here,  boys.  Bring  the  horses  right  up  close  to 
Baldy."  They  did  so,  and  soon  had  the  loads  on 
the  ground.  Poles  were  quickly  cut,  the  lodge  was 
put  up,  and  the  ground  within  it  was  soon  cleared 
of  snow,  and  a  fire  started.  Then,  under  Hugh's 
direction,  the  boys  went  out  and  broke  several  armfuls 
of  spruce  boughs,  which  they  brought  in  and  placed 
around  the  walls  of  the  lodge  where  the  beds  would 
be  spread,  to  keep  them  off  the  snow.  Two  of  the 
horses  had  already  been  picketed  and  the  others 
hobbled.  There  was  danger  that  night  they  might 
desert,  and  take  the  back  trail  for  the  lower  ground, 
where,  of  course,  they  well  remembered  that  there  was 
good  grass,  while  up  here  to  get  anything  to  eat 
they  would  have  to  paw  through  the  deep  snow. 

"You  boys  had  better  cook  supper,"  said  Hugh, 


TRACKS  IN  THE  SNOW  155 

"  I'm  going  down  to  the  end  of  this  valley,  to  see  if 
I  can't  stop  it  up  in  some  way  so  that  the  horses 
can't  get  away  to-night ;  they're  likely  to  leave  us,  and 
if  they  do,  we'll  have  to  hunt  them  to-morrow." 

Before  entering  this  valley  they  had  passed  up 
through  a  narrow  canon,  riding  for  a  short  distance  in 
the  stream-bed,  and  Hugh,  who  had  noticed  two  or 
three  spruce  trees  standing  on  either  side  of  the 
stream,  took  an  axe,  went  down  there,  and  felling  two 
of  the  trees  across  the  stream,  made  a  fence  that  the 
horses  could  not  surmount.  They  could  possibly  get 
around  by  climbing  high  on  the  hillside,  but  as  all  the 
loose  ones  were  hobbled,  it  was  not  likely  that  they 
would  go  very  far  up  hill. 

When  he  returned  to  the  camp  supper  was  ready, 
and  before  long  they  were  all  fast  asleep. 

The  next  morning  was  bright  and  cold.  No  more 
snow  had  fallen.  The  horses  were  all  there,  but  those 
that  had  been  hobbled  looked  gaunt  and  hungry. 
Hugh  was  up  before  daylight  and  took  off  their  hob- 
bles, and  when  the  sun  rose  they  were  all  busily  at 
work  getting  what  must  have  been  their  supper  and 
breakfast.  When  their  front  feet  were  tied  together, 
they  could  not  paw  through  the  snow  to  the  grass 
beneath. 

"Now  boys,"  said  Hugh,  as  soon  as  breakfast  was 
over,  "  let's  saddle  up  and  get  along.  I'd  like  mightily 
to  get  over  the  range  to-day,  if  we  can."  It  took  but  a 
short  time  to  get  started,  for  the  three  had  now  been 
working  together  so  long  that  they  wasted  no  time, 
and  made  no  unnecessary  motions. 

Neither  of  the  boys  had  noticed  the  night  before 


156  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

how  deep  the  snow  was  ;  but  to-day  they  could  see 
that  down  here  under  the  trees  it  was  eight  or  ten 
inches  deep,  though  perhaps  in  the  open  where  it  had  a 
chance  to  melt  or  to  blow  off  there  was  not  so  much. 

As  they  went  forward,  Jack  was  more  and  more 
interested  in  the  tracks.  Down  at  the  foot  of  a  caflon 
wall  in  the  valley  he  saw  a  series  of  tiny  parallel  dots 
in  the  snow,  which  he  thought  must  have  been  made 
by  a  little  striped  squirrel,  which  had  run  out  from  the 
broken  rock-fragments  where  he  had  his  home,  down 
nearly  to  the  water's  edge,  and  then,  frightened  by 
some  sight  or  sound,  had  turned  and  hurried,  with 
long  bounds,  back  to  his  rocky  home.  Higher  up  on 
the  hill,  about  every  weed-stalk  that  showed  above 
the  surface  of  the  snow  were  numbers  of  long  parallel 
depressions,  and  scattered  about  on  the  snow  were 
fragments  of  the  seed-cases  of  the  plants,  and  strips 
of  the  bark  of  the  stem.  Here  the  birds  had  been 
at  work,  and  so  hard  pressed  for  food  that  they  had 
visited  almost  every  projecting  plant. 

There  had  been  killing  during  the  night;  death 
had  been  abroad,  travelling  over  the  barren  hills,  and 
pushing  his  way  among  the  thickly  clustered  pines. 
There  had  been  battles  and  ambuscades,  and  stern 
unrelenting  pursuits  ;  fierce  struggles;  resistance,  feeble 
and  unavailing ;  despair,  and,  at  last,  yielding,  when 
the  hope  of  escape  was  lost.  More  than  one  life  had 
gone  out  that  night  on  the  hillside.  Here,  close  to 
the  margin  of  a  little  brook,  was  a  pile  of  bright  blue 
feathers,  telling  its  story  of  death,  and  near  it  in  the 
light  snow,  long,  light  strokes,  which  told  of  some 
fierce  bird,  that,  in  the  gray  light  of  the  morning,  had 


TRACKS  IN  THE  SNOW  157 

crushed  in  his  strong  crooked  talons  a  little  blue-bird 
which  was  just  beginning  his  journey  toward  the  south. 
There  were  tracks  of  a  fox  winding  about  on  the  hill- 
side, often  quartering  the  ground  like  a  well  trained 
hunting  dog.  He  had  covered  much  ground,  and  had 
visited  every  spot  that  might  give  shelter  to  his 
prey.  In  one  place  Jack  saw  the  tracks  of  a  grouse, 
and  those  of  a  fox  following  them,  then  suddenly  the 
tracks  of  the  grouse  were  seen  no  more,  the  last  two 
sunk  deep  in  the  snow,  showing  where  the  bird  had 
sprung  from  the  ground  and  had  darted  away  among 
the  snow-laden  trees.  A  few  feet  from  these.  Jack 
could  see  where  the  fox  had  stopped  when  the  bird 
took  flight,  and  he  could  fancy  how  angrily  the  sly 
fellow  gazed  after  it  as  he  saw  his  wished-for  breakfast 
disappear.  A  little  further  on  the  fox  had  been  more 
lucky,  and  a  hole  dug  in  the  snow  and  a  tuft  or  two 
of  bluish  fur  showed  where  the  keen-nosed  hunter 
had  caught  a  mouse. 

At  the  border  of  a  grove  of  pines,  Jack  saw  the 
impress  of  the  great  pads  of  the  snowshoe  rabbit, 
scarcely  sinking  into  the  light  snow.  For  the  most 
part,  the  rabbits  kept  close  under  the  evergreens 
where  the  snow  was  less  deep,  and  food  most  easily 
to  be  found ;  but  if  startled  by  fox  or  wolf,  they 
could  readily  run  over  the  drifts,  where  the  heavier 
pursuer  must  sink  into  them,  far  behind. 

As  they  climbed  higher  and  higher,  the  trees  grew 
larger,  and  now  they  began  to  see,  through  the  valley 
and  coming  down  from  the  higher  hills  on  either  side, 
the  tracks  of  elk.  The  heavy  snow-fall,  warning  these 
animals  of  the  near  approach  of  winter,  had  set  them 


158  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

in  motion  down  from  the  peaks,  and  everywhere  trails 
were  seen  leading  from  the  hillside  into  the  valley. 
They  saw  none  of  the  animals,  for  the  footfalls  of  the 
pack-train  clambering  over  the  rocks,  the  sound  of 
dead  branches  rattling  against  the  packs,  and  the  calhi 
to  the  horses  alarmed  the  elk  at  a  distance,  and  they 
retreated  to  the  timber,  out  of  sight. 

Presently  the  climbing  seemed  at  an  end  for  the 
present,  and  the  valley  became  more  open  and  nearly 
level.  Not  far  ahead  off  to  the  southeast  they  could 
see  a  low  pass  in  the  mountains,  which  seemed  likely 
to  be  the  one  they  were  trying  to  find.  As  they 
ascended,  the  stream  continued  to  grow  smaller,  large 
branches,  almost  equal  in  size  to  the  main  brook  kept 
coming  into  it,  and  often  it  was  uncertain  which  was 
the  main  fork.  Hugh  gave  no  hint  of  what  was 
passing  in  his  mind,  but  pushed  on,  and  the  boys  kept 
the  animals  close  behind  him. 

In  this  broad  level  valley  there  were  more  elk  tracks 
than  ever.  These,  seen  at  a  distance,  were  very 
pretty,  often  looking  like  two  delicate  chains  laid  side 
by  side,  and  running  for  a  long  distance  almost  in  a 
straight  line.  Sometimes  the  animals  seemed  to  have 
wandered  about,  biting  off  the  heads  of  the  grass 
and  weeds  that  stood  above  the  snow  ;  but  always  at 
last  the  tracks  turned  and  kept  on  down  the  valley. 
In  the  middle  of  the  great  meadow  stood  an  old 
pine  stub,  and  a  number  of  the  tracks  converged  to  this, 
and  then  went  away  from  it  in  one  path.  It  seemed 
that  the  elk,  coming  along,  had  gone  to  this  stump, 
and  rubbed  against  it,  and  then  all  followed  the  same 
trail  going  away. 


TRACKS  IN  THE  SNOW  159 

As  the  afternoon  advanced,  the  valley  grew  narrow 
again  and  they  entered  the  timber,  and  soon  after, 
ward  came  on  what  was  evidently  a  trail  that  had 
been  travelled  both  by  whites  and  Indians.  Some  of 
the  trees  were  blazed  with  an  axe,  but  many  years  ago, 
for  the  bark  had  partly  grown  over  the  old  blazes; 
there  were  later  marks  where  little  three-cornered 
patches  of  the  bark  had  been  knocked  off,  showing 
where  the  hard  corners  of  packs  had  struck  against 
the  trees.  On  one  or  two  of  the  trees  were  seen  little 
woolen  threads,  white  and  red,  showing  where  some 
Indian's  blanket  had  rubbed  against  the  trunk  and 
left  a  little  sign,  to  remain  there  for  years.  At 
length,  the  trail  again  passed  out  of  the  timber  into  a 
narrow  valley,  and  a  sharp  climb  brought  them  to  a 
place  where  water  seemed  to  be  flowing  down  hill  both 
before  and  behind  them.  Hugh  stopped  and  waved 
his  hand  and  pointed  ahead  ;  and  beyond  they  could 
see  a  valley,  steep-walled  and  full  of  timber,  stretch, 
ing  off  toward  the  southeast. 


CHAPTER  XII 

WHAT   WILL   BECOME   OF   THE   ELK? 

"  Here  we  are,  boys  ;  this  is  the  divide  —  the  top  of 
the  range,"  said  Hugh.  "  Now  if  we  can  only  get  down 
this  hill  and  find  decent  travelling  in  the  valley,  we'll 
soon  be  out  of  this  snow.  I  expect  this  is  one  of  the 
heads  of  Wind  River,  and  I  hope  we  can  make  it 
down  below  the  snow  to-morrow." 

The  way  down  the  new  stream  was  steep,  and  for  a 
while  progress  was  slow.  There  appeared  to  be  no 
trail,  and  several  times  Hugh  dismounted  and  went 
ahead  slowly  on  foot,  to  pick  out  a  way  for  the  ani- 
mals down  steep  rock  slides.  At  last,  however,  they 
came  to  a  point  where  the  stream  had  a  little  bottom, 
thickly  overgrown  with  timber,  but  all  of  it  green  ; 
and  working  their  way  along  through  this  they  came, 
shortly  before  sundown,  to  a  little  open  park  sur- 
rounded by  willows,  where  they  camped. 

There  was  a  little  daylight  left  after  camp  had  been 
made  and  supper  eaten,  and  Jack,  with  Hugh, 
walked  out  to  the  edge  of  the  stream.  There  was  a 
good  deal  of  water  flowing  in  it,  for  ever  since  they 
came  into  the  valley  they  had  been  crossing  rivulets 
and  brooklets,  tumbling  down  from  the  high  hills  and 
pouring  their  current  into  the  valley.  The  little  river 
flowed  among   the   close-set  pines,  and    its  bed  was 


WHAT  WILL  BECOME  OF  THE  ELK?     i6i 

composed  of  great  blocks  of  stone.  Just  opposite  the 
camp  it  opened  out  into  a  pool  twenty  feet  long,  and 
half  as  wide ;  and,  as  they  stood  here,  they  saw  two 
little  dippers  at  work  in  the  stream. 

Although  Jack  had  often  seen  these  birds  in  the 
northern  mountains,  they  constantly  interested  him. 
He  knew  that,  although  living  always  in  and  about 
the  water,  their  nearest  relations  were  not  water-birds, 
such  as  ducks  or  snipe,  but  instead  were  thrushes,  of 
which  the  common  robin  is  one.  Yet  as  many  times 
as  he  had  seen  them  diving  into  the  water,  swimming 
about  on  it,  and  again  disappearing  beneath  its  waves, 
he  could  never  quite  get  over  his  astonishment  at  see- 
ing a  bird  walk  down  the  shelving  rock  or  smooth 
beach  into  the  water,  and  keep  on  walking,  without 
attempting  to  swim  or  to  dive,  until  it  had  disappeared. 
He  spoke  about  this  now  to  Hugh,  and  said, 
"Those  are  the  queerest  little  birds  I  ever  saw,  and  I 
don't  know  of  any  like  them  anywhere." 

"Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "they  are  queer;  but  they're 
mighty  cheerful  —  mighty  good  company  if  you're 
alone  in  the  mountains.  They  stay  here,  you  know,  all 
summer  and  all  winter,  wherever  the  water  is  open, 
and  they've  got  a  real  nice  little  song,  and  they  sing, 
too,  at  all  seasons  of  the  year.  There,  listen  to  that 
one,"  he  said,  as  a  dipper  appeared  from  under  the 
water  in  the  pool  before  them,  and  then  flying  to  an 
old  dead  stick  that  projected  from  the  bank,  alighted 
on  it  and  began  to  warble  a  simple  but  pleasing  song. 
After  it  had  finished,  it  flew  part  way  across  the  pool, 
and  then  dived  from  the  wing,  and  came  to  the  sur- 
face  asfain  some  distance  below  where  it  had  entered 


i62  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

the  water.  Then  flying  to  a  rock  it  seemed  to  batter 
to  pieces  some  small  object  which  it  had  brought  up 
from  the  bottom,  which  it  then  devoured. 

'*  Don't  it  seem  queer,  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "  that  they 
never  get  wet ;  their  plumage  seems  light  and  fluffy, 
like  that  of  a  land  bird,  and  not  close  and  compact 
like  that  of  the  duck  or  grebe.  They  must  have  a  big 
oil-sack,  and  must  oil  up  their  featliers   pretty  often." 

''  I  reckon  they  do,"  said  Hugh,  "  but  I'm  sure  they 
never  get  wet.  I've  often  wondered  what  it  is  they 
feed  on  ;  I  suppose  it's  insects  that  live  at  the  bottom 
of  the  water.  Anyhow,  I've  often  seen  them  bring 
up  one  of  those  little  worms  that  build  sort  of  houses 
for  themselves  out  of  sticks  and  little  bits  of  sand,  and 
take  it  to  a  rock  and  pound  it  to  pieces,  and  then 
eat  the  worm  that's  inside  of  it.  You've  seen  those 
things,  haven't  you  ?  I  don't  know  what  they  do,  or 
what  they're  good  for,  without  it  is  to  feed  the  birds 
and  the  fish." 

"  Oh  yes,  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "  I've  often  seen  those. 
Mighty  queer  little  houses  they  are,  but  I  don't  know 
any  more  than  you  do  what  the  insect  in  them  lives 
for.  I  expect  he  may  turn  into  a  dragonfly,  or  maybe 
some  kind  of  beetle  or  other.  I  know  I've  heard 
that  there  are  lots  of  insects  that  lay  their  eggs,  and 
live  part  of  their  lives  in  water,  and  then  finally,  com- 
ing up  to  the  surface,  change  their  shape  and  become 
perfect  insects." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  expect  likely  that's  the  way 
it  may  be." 

Jack  noticed  that  the  dippers  seemed  to  dive  into 
the  upper  part  of  the  pool,  and  to  be  carried  down  by 


WHAT  WILL  BECOME  OF  THE  ELK?     163 

the  swift  current  close  to  a  little  point  of  rocks,  and 
slowly  walking  out  there,  and  standing  perfectly  still, 
he  soon  saw  one  of  the  birds  drop  down  from  a  large 
stone  near  him,  and  disappear  under  the  water.  He 
could  see  a  sort  of  a  flying  shadow  under  the  surface, 
and  in  a  moment  the  bird  came  up  a  little  below 
him,  and  flew  off  to  the  other  side  of  the  stream.  As 
it  grew  darker,  the  dippers  disappeared,  having  prob- 
ably  gone  to  their  roost ;  and  as  the  two  returned  to 
camp,  Hugh  said  to  Jack,  "  Son,  did  you  ever  see  one 
of  the   nests   made   by  these  birds?" 

"No,  Hugh,  I  never  did,"  said  Jack. 

"  Well,    we    must   be    on    the    lookout    for    that. 
They're    mighty   queer    little  nests.     On  the    outside 
they  seem  to    be  made  of  green  moss,    so  that  the 
nests  look  just  like  a  bunch    of   moss  growing  on  a 
rock.     Often  they  build  them  close  under  some  little 
waterfall,  and  I  expect   maybe  it's  the  mist  from  the 
fall  that  keeps   the  moss  wet  and  growing;  but  if  the 
outside  is  damp  and  wet,  the  inside  is  just  as  dry   as 
can  be,  and  the  young  birds  have  a  good  warm  place, 
and  a  good  roof  over  their  heads.    It's  kind  of  fun  to 
watch  one  of  these  nests  and   see  how  hard  the  old 
birds  have  to   work   to  keep  the    young  birds  quiet. 
They  come  with  an  insect,  and   give  it  to  some  one  of 
the  young  ones,  and  then  dart  ofT,  and  are  not  gone 
more   than  a  few  minutes,  and  then   come  back  again, 
so  both  the  old  birds  keep  travelling  back  and  forth; 
and  all  the  time  the  young  ones  are  making  all  the 
noise  they  can,  only  you  can't  hear 'em  for  the  sound 
of    the  water — they're  a  hungry   lot,    I  tell    you.     Of 
course,  the  breeding  season  is  past  a  long  time  now, 


i64  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

and  maybe  if  we  keep  our  eyes  open  we'll  be  able 
to  see  a  nest  and  get  it  for  you  to  take  home  with 
you,  though  often  they're  in  a  place  where  it's  mighty 
hard  to  get  at  them." 

The  little  circular  meadow  in  which  they  had 
camped  was  not  large  enough  to  give  good  feeding  for 
their  horses,  even  if  the  ground  had  not  been  covered 
with  snow;  but  Hugh  felt  certain  that  the  horses 
would  not  try  to  follow  the  back  trail  up  the  hill 
again,  nor  did  he  think  that  they  would  venture  away 
down  the  stream  into  country  unknown  to  them. 
However,  he  picketed  two  horses  and  hobbled 
most  of  the  others,  and  when  morning  came  they 
were  most  of  them  in  sight,  though  one  or  two  had 
strayed  away  into  the  timber.  The  snow  on  the 
ground  made  it  an  easy  matter  to  follow  them,  and 
50on  after  sunrise  the  train  had  started  on  again. 

The  travelling  was  better  than  had  been  expected. 
Although  sometimes  the  walls  of  the  valley  drew  so 
dose  together  that  there  was  hardly  room  for  the 
stream  to  flow,  they  managed  to  get  along  without 
very  much  climbing,  and  were  all  the  time  going 
down  hill.  The  next  night  when  they  camped,  the 
snow  had  almost  entirely  disappeared  from  the  valley, 
only  patches  lying  in  some  of  the  most  shady  spots. 
There  was  abundant  sign  of  game  here,  but  they  savi 
none,  nor  did  they  look  for  it.  The  next  after- 
noon however,  Hugh  stopped  as  they  were  crossing  a 
meadow,  and,  calling  Jack  to  him,  pointed  out  some 
tracks  in  the  soft  ground,  which  Jack  at  first  supposed 
were  elk  tracks,  but  on  more  careful  examination 
found  to  be  quite  different ;  and   after  thinking  for  a 


WHAT  WILL  BECOME  OF  THE  ELK?     i6$ 

moment,  he  asked  Hugh  if  they  could  be  moose 
tracks. 

"Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "that's  just  what  they  are. 
This  was  a  good  bull,  and  he  crossed  here  early  this 
morning.  Follow  his  tracks  a  little  way  and  see  if 
you  can  make  out  anything  special  about  them,  and 
then  come  on  after  us  and  tell  me  what  you  saw." 

Jack  followed  slowly  along  on  the  tracks  until  they 
entered  the  timber.  Then  he  returned  to  take  his 
position  in  the  pack  train.  By  this  time  the  way  was 
so  open  that  it  was  not  necessary  to  travel  in  single 
file,  and  Jack,  riding  up  to  Hugh  said,  "Well,  Hugh, 
those  tracks  are  about  twice  as  long  as  an  elk's  track, 
and  only  a  little  bit  wider;  that  makes  them  look 
long  and  narrow.  Then,  besides  that,  I  noticed  that 
whenever  the  animal  went  over  a  soft  spot,  and  his 
foot  sank  in  a  little,  there  seemed  to  be  two  marks 
behind  the  main  track,  and  I  suppose  those  are  the 
dew  claws  sinking  in.     Is  that  so?" 

"That's  it,"  said  Hugh,  "I'm  glad  you  took  notice 
so  carefully.  Maybe  we'll  get  a  chance  to  kill  a 
moose  before  we  get  down  out  of  these  mountains. 
We  don't  really  want  one  now ;  but  you've  never  seen 
a  moose,  and  I  expect  if  one  should  show  up,  why 
maybe  you'd  want  to  shoot  at  it." 

"Well,  Hugh,  I  guess  I  would,"  said  Jack;  "but 
I  suppose  as  long  as  we're  travelling  here  with  the 
pack  train,  and  making  so  much  noise,  there  isn't 
much  chance  of  our  seeing  one." 

"  No,  not  much,  "  said  Hugh. 

As  the  valley  became  wider,  and  the  stream  larger, 
there  seemed  to  be  more  life  in  the  bottom.     Several 


166  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

broods  of  ruffed  grouse  had  been  noticed  during  the 
day,  and  all  were  so  tame  that  they  scarcely  moved 
out  of  the  horses'  way  as  they  passed  along.  In  the 
river  there  were  a  few  ducks,  of  the  kind  that  breed 
high  up  in  the  mountains;  and  the  next  morning, 
when  Jack  was  down  at  the  water's  edge,  just  after  he 
had  risen,  he  saw  a  hawk  make  a  dash  at  a  family  of 
ducks.  The  ducks  were  flying  down  the  river  when 
the  hawk  came  out  of  the  timber  and  darted  toward 
them.  They  all  fell  into  the  water,  with  loud  splash- 
ings,  and  the  hawk  swooped  at  one  of  them  which  was 
a  little  apart  from  the  main  flock ;  but  the  duck  made 
a  rush  to  one  side  and  easily  avoided  it.  Then  the 
hawk  gave  up  the  chase,  and  flew  into  a  tall  tree, 
where  he  watched  the  ducks  as  they  swam  swiftly 
down  the  stream.  Jack  was  amused  at  a  little  spotted 
sandpiper  that  had  been  flying  up  the  stream  when 
the  hawk  darted  for  the  ducks.  The  bird  was  very 
much  frightened,  thinking  that  the  hawk  was  after  it. 
It  dropped  into  the  water  as  if  it  had  been  shot,  and 
sat  there  with  its  head  cocked  to  one  side,  watch- 
ing the  enemy,  and  prepared  to  dive  at  a  second's 
warning,  if  the  hawk  should  dash  at  it. 

The  weather  was  bright  and  pleasant,  and  they 
kept  on  down  the  stream,  which  constantly  grew 
wider.  Now  there  was  some  sage-brush  on  the 
benches  above  the  bottom,  and  often  the  trail  kept 
away  from  the  stream,  and  close  under  these  benches, 
in  order  to  avoid  the  frequent  wet  and  miry  places 
which  would  have  troubled  the  horses.  As  Jack  was 
riding  along  he  suddenly  heard  a  shot  behind  him, 
and  looking  about,  saw  three  deer  running  near  the 


WHAT  WILL  BECOME  OF  THE  ELK?     167 

top  of  a  ridge,  and  just  below  the  timber.  Joe  had 
shot  at  one  of  them,  and  just  after  Jack  looked  round, 
two  of  them  disappeared  over  the  ridge.  The  last 
one  stopped  almost  at  its  crest,  and  looked  back,  and 
Joe  fired  again.  The  doe  fell,  and  Joe  rode  up  to 
where  she  lay.  The  train  was  halted,  and  when  the 
deer  had  been  brought  down  to  the  trail  she  was  put 
on  one  of  the  packs  and  they  started  on  again.  As 
the  bottom  became  wider  it  was  evident  that  beaver 
had  been  much  at  work  here,  and  although  they  had 
long  deserted  it,  the  marshes  and  sloughs  and  mud- 
holes  caused  by  their  damming  of  the  stream  still 
remained  as  pitfalls  for  the  traveller. 

Ever  since  they  had  left  Snake  River  they  had 
iheard  from  time  to  time  the  shrill  bugling  call  of  the 
elk,  though  near  the  top  of  the  range  where  the  snow 
was  deepest  they  had  not  heard  them  whistle.  Now, 
however,  they  frequently  heard  elk,  and  on  this  day 
an  old  bull  came  out  of  a  point  of  timber  near  which 
they  were  travelling,  and  stood  and  looked  at  them. 
He  was  but  a  short  distance  off,  and  might  easily 
have  been  killed  ;  but  they  had  meat  enough,  and  there 
was  no  reason  for  shooting  him.  He  was  but  forty 
or  fifty  yards  distant,  and  seemed  disposed  to  come 
even  nearer,  making  some  threatening  demonstrations 
with  his  head,  and  advancing  a  few  steps  ;  but  no 
attention  was  paid  to  him,  and  presently  he  turned 
about  and  disappeared  in  the  timber.  Hugh  said  that 
very  likely  the  elk  took  some  of  the  pack  animals  for 
cows,  and  wished  to  gather  them  in. 

That  night  they  camped  on  an  enlargement  of  the 
river,  which  almost  seemed  like  a  little  lake.      Behind 


i68  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

them  and  on  either  side  were  timbered  hills,  before 
them  the  water,  and  beyond  the  mountains  rising 
steeply.  The  lodge  stood  in  a  little  grove  of  pine 
trees,  which  furnished  shelter  and  fuel,  and  the  hungry 
animals  fed  on  the  rich  grass  behind  it.  The  bright 
fire  in  front  of  the  lodge  lit  up  the  trees  and  the  lodge 
and  the  pack  saddles,  and  as  it  flamed  and  flickered, 
curious  shadows  peeped  out  from  the  dark  caverns 
that  stretched  back  beneath  the  pine  branches  to  the 
gloom  beyond,  and  sometimes  creeping  stealthily 
forth,  danced  for  a  moment  within  the  circle  of  the 
firelight,  and  then  chased  one  another  back  into  the 
darkness,  and  were  swallowed  up  in  it.  The  soft 
murmur  of  the  river  over  its  stones  came  to  the 
campers  in  a  monotonous  undertone,  while  now  and 
then  from  the  nearby  trees  came  the  plaintive  call  of 
some  bird,  and  the  mountain  sides  echoed  at  intervals 
to  the  fierce  shrill  challenge  of  the  angry  elk. 

"This  is  a  great  elk  country,  isn't  it,  Hugh?"  said 
Jack.  "It  seems  to  me  that  elk  are  'most  everywhere, 
and  I  suppose  they'll  always  be  here,  won't  they  ?" 

"Well,  I  don't  know,  son,"  said  Hugh;  "it's  pretty 
hard  to  say  about  that.  They'll  likely  be  here  until 
the  white  folks  come;  but  as  soon  as  they  come,  why 
the  elk  are  bound  to  go.  I've  heard  they're  talking 
about  passing  a  law  not  to  let  them  be  killed  in  the 
Park  we  came  through  —  that  place  where  the  hot 
springs  and  spouting  fountains  are.  But  just  as  soon 
as  mineral  is  discovered  in  these  hills,  the  game  will 
go.  I  reckon,  too,  that  this  law  they're  talking  about 
passing  for  that  Park  back  there  won't  amount  to 
much,  for  I  talked  with   two  hunters  there  who  said 


WHAT  WILL  BECOME  OF  THE  ELK?     169 

that  they  expected  to  get  the  contract  this  winter  to 
kill  meat  for  all  them  fellows  that's  working  on  those 
buildings  that  we  saw.  Of  course  what  two  men'll 
kill  in  a  winter  won't  amount  to  much;  but  just  as 
soon  as  many  people  begin  to  come  into  this  country, 
the  game  will  all  get  killed  off.  I've  seen  places  down 
in  the  south,  in  Colorado,  where  twenty  or  twenty-five 
years  ago  game  was  so  plenty  that  you  could  kill  all 
you  wanted  right  close  to  camp,  any  time  ;  and  now 
that  country  is  full  of  settlers,  miners  and  ranchmen, 
and  they've  killed  off  the  game  for  the  mining  camps 
and  tie  camps  and  every  settler  has  to  go  and  get 
three  or  four  wagon  loads  for  his  winter's  meat,  and 
the  first  tiling  they  know  there  won't  be  a  hoof  left 
in  the  country." 

"Well,  but  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "what's  going  to 
become  of  all  the  game  ?  Isn't  there  going  to  be 
any  left  after  a  few  years  ?  " 

"  You  can't  prove  it  by  me,  son.  I  don't  know ;  but 
I  expect  there  won't  be  any  game  left,  unless  they 
pass  some  laws,  and  enforce  them,  to  stop  the  killing 
of  it.  Of  course  laws  don't  mean  anything  without 
they're  enforced,  and  as  far  as  I  can  see,  these  laws 
protecting  the  game  never  are  enforced." 

"But,  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "that  seems  to  me  all 
wrong.  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  if  I  come  out  here 
twenty  years  from  now  there  won't  be  anything  for 
me  to  hunt  ?  " 

"  Looks  that  way  to  me,  son,"  said  Hugh. 

"  And  if  I  should  have  a  son,  and  ever  want  to  bring 
him  out  here  and  show  him  the  things  that  I  saw  when 
I  was  a  boy,  he  could  not  see  them  ?  " 


I70  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

"  I  don't  believe  he  could.  I  tell  you,  son,  this 
country  has  changed  an  awful  lot  since  I  first  saw  it, 
and  it  seems  to  me  it's  changiiig  more  and  more  all 
the  time,  and  quicker  now  than  it  used  to.  I  used  to 
think  that  the  time  would  never  come  when  I  couldn't 
go  out  and  kill  meat  if  I  wanted  it ;  but  my  ideas  have 
changed  a  whole  lot  in  the  last  year  or  two,  and  I 
believe  now  that  the  time  will  come  when  there  won't 
be  any  game  left  for  a  man  to  shoot  with  a  rifle.  I 
used  to  think  that  the  buffalo  could  never  be  killed 
off,  but  I've  seen  'em  killed  off  over  part  of  the  coun- 
try, and  I  may  live  long  enough  to  see  *em  killed  off 
everywhere." 

"  Well,"  said  Jack,  "it  seems  as  if  there  ought  to 
be  some  way  to  stop  that." 

"  Yes,  there  ought  to  be,"  said  Hugh,  "  but  you  see, 
every  fellow  that  comes  out  into  the  mountains, 
he's  just  like  you  and  me  ;  we  think  the  other  fellow 
oughtn't  to  kill  game,  but  we  ought  to  kill  it.  We 
claim  that  we  don't  kill  anything  more  than  what  we 
want  to  eat,  and  these  other  fellows  claim,  maybe  — 
if  they're  buffalo  skinners  or  elk  skinners — that  they 
don't  kill  any  more  than  they  want  to  skin.  Each 
man  thinks  that  what  he'll  kill  won't  do  any  harm  ; 
but  when  they're  all  at  work  killing  as  hard  as  they 
can,  the  upshot  of  it  is  that  there's  no  game  left." 

"  I  see,"  said  Jack ;  "  each  one  of  us  is  thinking  about 
himself  and  about  nobody  else,  and  yet  each  one  of 
us  is  likely  to  talk  about  what  the  other  people  do. 
You  must  have  seen  lots  of  game  in  your  life,  Hugh," 
he  added. 

"  Yes,  son,"  said  Hugh,  *'  I've  seen  a  heap  of  game. 


WHAT  WILL  BECOME  OF  THE  ELKr     171 

Why,  at  one  time  men  used  to  travel  day  after  day, 
and  never  be  out  of  sight  of  game  ;  and  most  times 
the  game  was  not  afraid  at  all.  Buffalo  or  elk  or 
antelope  would  just  move  out  the  way,  and  a  man 
never  thought  of  shooting  at  anything  until  he  needed 
meat  to  eat.  Of  course  in  those  times  we  never  took 
anything  but  the  best  parts,  and  so  it  often  hap- 
pened that  we  killed  an  animal  every  two  or  three 
days.  But  we  never  thought,  up  to  within  a  very 
few  years  ago,  when  railroads  began  to  come  into  the 
country,  that  things  would  be  much  different  from 
what  they  were  then  ;  but  when  the  railroads  came, 
they  brought  a  heap  of  people,  a  good  many  of  them 
hunters,  and  a  good  many  of  them  men  who  came  to 
live  on  the  land  where  the  game  had  always  roamed 
without  being  bothered  by  anybody,  except  maybe 
once  a  year  when  Indians  happened  to  pass  that  way 
and  perhaps  camped  in  the  neighborhood  for  a  few 
weeks.  Of  course  the  time  has  been  when  a  man 
could  easily  enough  kill  a  car-load  of  game  in  a  day, 
but  in  the  old  times  no  one  had  any  reason  for  doing 
that.  We  could  only  eat  about  so  much  meat,  and 
wear  about  so  much  buckskin ;  and  ammunition  cost 
money,  and  nobody  wanted  to  waste  it." 


CHAPTER  XIII 

A   PACK   HORSE   IN   DANGER 

They  had  not  gone  far  down  the  river  the  next 
morning  when  the  mountains  on  either  side  drew 
closer  together,  and  the  valley  narrowed  greatly. 
Before  they  had  gone  far  Hugh  stopped,  and,  turn- 
ing, said  to  the  boys  as  they  came  up,  "  I  don't 
like  the  looks  of  thing  ahead  ;  I  reckon  we'll  have  to 
go  up  on  the  hillside  down  below  here.  Looks  to  me 
like  we  were  coming  to  a  cafion." 

A  little  farther  along  it  proved  so  ;  and  Hugh,  after 
going  ahead  and  making  a  little  investigation,  called 
out  to  the  boys  to  bring  on  the  animals.  They  found 
him  on  a  narrow  game  trail,  which  began  to  climb  the 
hill  among  thick  timber,  where  the  trees  stood  so 
close  on  both  sides  of  the  trail  that  it  was  evident 
that  there  might  be  trouble  in  getting  the  packs 
along.  Hugh  got  an  axe  out  of  the  pack,  and,  going 
ahead  on  foot,  began  to  chop  the  branches  on  either 
side,  so  as  to  make  room  for  the  loaded  horses.  Two 
or  three  times  he  found  small  trees  fallen  across  the 
trail,  and,  as  it  was  extremely  steep,  it  was  necessary 
to  cut  out  each  one  of  these.  Progress  was  slow,  but 
after  two  or  three  hours  they  emerged  from  the  tim- 
ber and  could  see  ahead  of  them  the  trail  leading 
along  a  very  steep  hillside.     Immediately  below  the 


A  PACK  HORSE  IN  DANGER     173 

trail  grew  underbrush,  and  below  that  the  rocks  fell 
off  sharply  to  the  river.  From  the  hillside  a  number 
of  little  brooks  and  springs  trickled  down,  making 
slippery,  muddy  places  in  the  trail  over  which  it  was 
necessary  to  go  carefully.  Hugh  several  times  called 
back  to  the  boys,  saying,  "  Go  slow  along  this  place, 
and  don't  crowd  the  animals ;  let  each  one  take  its 
time,  and  you  boys  go  on  foot.  The  horses  will 
follow  all  right." 

There  was  nothing  on  the  trail  that  was  difficult  for 
a  man  on  foot  or  for  a  careful  horse,  and  for  some 
time  they  went  on  very  well,  and  made  good  time; 
but  in  crossing  a  little  brook  which  ran  down  over 
the  trail,  and  where  there  was  a  mud^iole,  the  bay 
horse,  pausing  and  putting  down  his  head  to  investi- 
gate tlie  trail,  was  crowded  upon  by  the  dun  and 
kicked  back  at  him  with  both  heels,  and  when  his  feet 
came  down  they  were  over  the  edge  of  the  trail,  and, 
trying  to  recover  himself,  he  clumsily  fell  down  and 
rolled  over  once  or  twice.  Just  below  the  trail  at  this 
point  there  was  a  big  patch  of  stiff  alders  growing 
close  to  the  steep  hillside.  Jack  saw  the  horse  begin 
to  fall,  and,  dropping  his  own  bridle  rein  and  placing 
his  gun  on  the  hillside  above  the  trail,  he  slipped  by 
the  dun,  and  before  the  pack  horse  had  turned  over 
twice  he  had  caught  it  by  its  hackamore  and  checked  it. 
In  a  moment  Joe  was  by  his  side,  and  the  two  hung 
on  like  grim  death,  and  held  the  horse  there  on  its 
side,  with  its  head  a  little  up  the  hill.  Meantime 
Hugh  had  left  his  horse  and  come  back  along  the 
trail,  and  in  a  moment  he  too  had  hold  of  the  horse's 
head.      Fortunately,    the    horse   lay    perfectly    quiet, 


174  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

and  neither  slid  nor  rolled,  his  hips  being  more  or 
less  supported  by  the  alders.  Hugh  quickly  unfas- 
tened the  hackamore,  which  gave  all  hands  a  better 
hold,  and  then  said  to  Jack,  "  Slip  down  there  now, 
behind  the  horse,  and  see  if  you  can  loosen  that  lash 
rope.  If  you  can't,  cut  the  lacing  that  holds  it  to  the 
cinch.  We've  got  to  get  that  pack  off,  or  else  lose 
the  animal.  Don't  get  where  the  horse  can  hit  you 
with  his  feet  ;  reach  over  his  back." 

The  horse  was  lying  on  its  off  side,  and  it  was 
impossible  to  loosen  the  lash  rope,  but  reaching  over 
the  back.  Jack  cut  the  lacings  of  the  lash  cinch,  so 
that  the  whole  lash  rope  fell  off.  "  Now,"  said  Hugh, 
"come  back  here  and  hang  on  to  the  hackamore." 
Jack  took  Hugh's  place,  and  Hugh  quickly  loosened 
the  sling  ropes,  and  removing  the  packs  from  the 
saddle,  carried  them  up  to  the  trail,  and  then  along  it 
a  little  distance  until  he  reached  a  place  where  the 
ground  on  the  upper  side  sloped  more  gradually. 
Here  he  deposited  the  packs  one  by  one;  then  he 
took  hold  of  the  hackamore  again  and  said  to  Jack, 
**  Go  and  get  your  rope  and  bring  it  here,  and  tie  it 
round  this  horse's  neck  in  a  bowline."  When  this 
had  been  done,  the  end  of  the  rope  was  passed  round 
a  small  spruce  tree,  which  grew  just  above  the  trail, 
and  then  all  three  held  the  rope,  so  that  now  the 
horse  could  not  possibly  roll  down  the  hill,  unless  the 
tree  gave  way,  or  the  men  let  the  rope  go.  While 
two  of  them  held  the  rope,  Jack  led  the  horses 
along  the  trail,  until  a  place  was  reached  where  it 
came  out  on  a  wider  ledge,  and  leaving  them  there 
returned.     Then  the  pack  horse  was  made  to  rise  to 


A  PACK  HORSE  IN  DANGER  17S 

its  feet,  and  without  very  great  difficulty,  assisted  by 
the  rope  about  its  neck,  it  climbed  back  to  the  trail 
and  was  led  along  to  a  place  where  there  was  more 
room.  Now,  while  Hugh  mended  the  lash  cinch,  the 
boys  carried  the  packs  along  the  trail  to  where  it  was 
wider,  and  at  length  the  horse  was  re-packed,  and  they 
started  on. 

While  they  were  at  work,  Jack  said  to  Hugh,  "I 
want  you  to  understand,  Hugh,  that  I  didn't  drive 
the  dun  onto  that  horse.  The  dun  came  up  behind 
him  and  stopped,  and  the  bay  kicked  at  him,  and  lost 
his  footing,  and  went  over  the  side  of  the  trail." 

"  I  know,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  know  ;  I  was  watching. 
It  wasn't  anybody's  fault,  but  the  fool  horse  that 
tried  to  kill  himself.  You  did  mighty  well  to  get 
hold  of  him  as  quick  as  you  did,  and  if  it  hadn't  been 
for  that,  if  he'd  made  one  more  roll,  he'd  have  gone 
over  the  rocks,  and  we'd  have  lost  him,  and  likely  a 
lot  of  the  load  he's  carrying. 

"  We've  got  to  look  for  things  like  this  when  we're 
travelling  with  a  pack  train,  and  I'm  mighty  surprised 
that  we've  had  as  little  trouble  as  we  have." 

It  was  near  sundown  when  Hugh  stopped  as 
they  came  out  on  a  bench  of  the  hillside,  and  said  : 
•*  I  reckon  we'll  have  to  camp  up  here  to-night,  boys. 
There  don't  seem  to  be  any  place  where  we  can  get 
down  to  the  river.  There's  good  grass  here  for  the 
horses  and  a  place  where  Ave  can  picket  two  or  three 
of  them  ,  but  I  don't  see  any  water  just  here.  Jack, 
you  ride  up  the  hill,  and  see  whether  you  can  find 
anything  that  looks  like  a  spring.  Joe  and  I'll  stop 
here  with  the  horses." 


176  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

Jack  had  not  ridden  far,  when,  passing  over  a  little 
ridge,  he  found,  issuing  from  a  ledge  of  rock,  a  good 
spring,  which  ran  down  into  a  little  ravine  .  and  calling 
to  the  others,  they  came  up  there,  unsaddled,  and 
made  camp.  It  was  dark  when  supper  was  over,  and 
their  talk  was  chiefly  of  the  difficulties  of  the  day, 
and  the  narrow  escape  had  by  the  pack  horse. 

"A  man  is  bound  to  lose  an  animal  in  the  moun- 
tains now  and  then,"  said  Hugh,  "not  always  through 
his  own  carelessness,  but  because  there's  always 
some  horses  and  mules  that  are  fools.  After  all  a 
horse  is  nothing  but  a  bundle  of  nerves,  and  if 
he  gets  scared  and  loses  his  head,  why  he  doesn't  do 
anything  but  jump  round  and  kick  and  make  things 
worse  for  himself.  Now,  that's  where  a  good  man  has 
the  bulge  on  any  dumb  beast  that  ever  was.  A  man, 
if  he's  got  sense,  will  stop  and  think,  and  reason,  and 
try  to  find  some  way  out  of  his  difficulty ;  but  a 
critter  doesn't  do  that.  That's  the  reason  horses  and 
mules  and  cattle  stampede,  and  that's  the  reason 
often  that  human  beings  stampede  too;  they  lose 
their  senses,  and  become  no  better  at  all  than  just  so 
many  animals.  We've  always  got  to  keep  our  wits 
about  us,  be  ready,  and  when  anything  happens  do 
the  right  thing,  and  do  it  right  off — like  you  did 
to-day,  son,  when  you  ran  to  grab  that  horse's  head, 
and  like  you  did  too,  Joe;  for  I  saw  that  you  were 
both  ready.  You  saved  us  the  horse,  and  a  mighty 
good  job  it  is. 

"  I  remember  one  day,  years  ago,  we  lost  our  whole 
kitchen  outfit  just  through  the  foolishness  of  a  mule. 
It  was   near   Henry's  Fork  of    Green    River,   and    I 


A  PACK  HORSE  IN  DANGER  177 

was  guiding  a  lot  of  soldiers  and  bug  hunters  up  from 
the  Unita  agency.  To  get  down  into  the  valley  we 
had  to  follow  down  a  mighty  sharp  crest  that  ran  out 
between  two  deep  ravines.  It  was  mighty  narrow, 
and  a  terrible  long  way  down  on  either  side,  but  there 
were  no  bad  places  in  it  ;  but  a  big  bay  mule  that 
carried  the  kitchen,  in  two  big  baskets,  tried  to  turn 
round  and  look  at  the  rest  of  the  train  that  were  com- 
ing, and  somehow  she  caught  her  hind  legs  over  the 
edge,  and  they  slipped  down,  and  she  hung  a  little 
while  with  her  forefeet,  but  before  any  one  could  get 
to  her  she  let  go,  and  she  fell.  She  was  dead  long 
before  she  struck  the  bottom,  1  guess,  and  the  kitchen 
was  all  smashed  and  broken  up.  I  believe  we  did  get 
some  knives  and  forks  and  tin  plates  out  of  the  mess, 
but  the  plates  were  all  battered,  and  had  to  be 
hammered  out  on  a  tree  with  an  axe  before  they 
would  set  on  the  ground.  It  was  one  of  the  worst 
falls  I  ever  saw  an  animal  take." 

The  next  morning  the  horses  were  seen  scattered 
all  along  the  hillside  above  the  camp,  and  it  took  the 
boys  some  time  to  gather  and  bring  them  in  ;  and 
while  they  were  doing  this,  a  big  doe,  followed  by 
two  little  fawns,  jumped  up  out  of  a  patch  of  quaking 
aspen,  ran  a  short  distance  up  above  them  on  the  hill- 
side, and  then  all  three  animals  turning  round  stood 
looking  at  them,  with  their  great  ears  thrown  forward. 
The  boys  stood  for  a  few  moments  and  looked  at  her, 
and  then  she  turned  again  and  clambered  still  higher 
up,  only  to  stop  again  for  another  look.  Neither  felt 
any  desire  to  shoot  at  her. 

The  greater  part  of  the  day  was  devoted  to  working 


178  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

down  stream  along  the  hillside.  They  found  that 
they  cauld  travel  with  some  comfort  on  the  benches, 
except  when  these  were  interrupted  at  frequent  inter- 
vals by  deep  ravines,  cut  out  by  streams  coming  down 
from  the  hills,  and  the  plunge  down  into  these,  and 
the  subsequent  climb  up  the  other  side,  was  tiring  to 
the  animals.  Also  they  had  to  stop  frequently  to 
adjust  the  packs  and  tighten  the  saddles. 

That  night  they  camped  again  on  the  benches,  and 
Hugh  said,  "  I  believe  we'll  do  as  well  to  stop  some- 
where, if  we  can  find  a  good  camp,  and  rest  up  for  two 
or  three  days.  These  horses  have  been  having  hard 
work  now  for  some  little  time,  and  they'll  get  poor. 
Besides  that,  this  up  and  down  work  is  awful  hard  on 
their  backs,  and  I  think  it  would  be  a  good  idea  to 
given  'em  a  rest.  If  we  can  find  a  good  camp  to-mor- 
row, any  time  in  the  day,  as  we're  travelling  along,  I 
think  we  better  stop  and  rest  up,  or  we  can  stop  right 
here.  You  boys  might  want  to  take  a  hunt  or  a  fish. 
It's  nice  weather  now,  and  we're  low  enough  down  so 
that  there's  no  danger  that  the  snow  will  catch  us,  and 
I  think  we  can  spare  the  time." 

"  Well,  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "  I  think  that's  a  pretty 
good  idea.  I'd  like  to  look  over  these  hills  and  see 
what  there  is  in  them,  and  I  guess  we'd  all  like  to  rest 
for  a  day." 

The  next  few  days  were  spent  in  this  camp.  Hugh 
was  busy  mending  up  saddles  and  riggings,  fixing 
blankets,  and  getting  things  in  good  shape  for  their 
further  journey,  while  Jack  fished  a  good  deal  in  the 
river  and  took  many  trout. 

One  day  while  working  around  the  edge  of  a  large 


A  PACK  HORSE  IN  DANGER  179 

poo!,  and  trying  to  cover  it  all  with  his  line,  he  found 
himself  close  to  a  steep  rocky  wall,  over  which  poured 
a  fall  six  or  eight  feet  high.  He  had  fished  here  for 
some  minutes,  when  suddenly  his  eye  caught  a  round 
brownish-green  bunch  of  something,  resting  on  a  little 
ledge  close  to  the  falls  and  over  deep  water ;  and  as 
he  saw  it  he  thought  that  this  must  be  a  nest  of  the 
dipper.  It  was  impossible  to  get  close  to  it,  and  re. 
membering  that  it  was  now  autumn  and  that  the  nest 
by  no  possibility  could  contain  anything,  he  reached 
over  with  his  pole,  and  pushing  it  from  its  position,  it 
fell  to  the  water  and  was  soon  in  his  hand.  He  found 
it  just  what  Hugh  had  described:  a  bunch  of  moss, 
containing  a  chamber  within,  lined  with  dried  grass 
and  a  few  feathers,  and  with  a  round  hole  at  the  front 
for  the  passage  in  and  out  of  the  birds.  It  was  a 
beautiful  piece  of  bird  architecture,  and  he  deter- 
mined to  take  it  with  him  and  to  try  to  carry  it  back 
east. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

A  BIGHORN 

While  Hugh  had  been  working  and  Jack  fishing, 
Joe  had  been  roaming  the  hillsides.  He  had  found 
some  signs  of  game  and  killed  another  little  fawn,  but 
had  not  been  higher  up  than  the  first  bench  above  the 
camp.  From  there,  however,  he  had  seen  higher 
mountains  rising  beyond,  and  one  night  he  said  to 
Jack,  "Jack,  why  don't  you  quit  catching  these  fish, 
and  let's  go  up  high  on  the  hills  here,  and  see  if  we 
lan't  kill  something?" 

"That's  a  good  idea,  Joe,"  said  Hugh,  "  the  meat 
of  these  black-tails  is  about  gone  now,  and  it's  a  good 
idea  for  you  boys  to  go  out  and  kill  something  more. 
That  last  fawn  that  you  got  is  almost  gone,  too.  We 
don't  want  to  keep  eating  fish  all  the  rest  of  the 
trip." 

"  Good  enough,"  said  Jack.  "  I'll  go  you  ;  and  we'll 
start  early  to-morrow  morning.  Shall  we  take  horses, 
Hugh?" 

"Why,  no,"  said  Hugh,  "if  I  were  you  I'd  leave 
the  horses  here  to  rest,  and  go  afoot.  You  can  hunt 
better  afoot,  and  then  if  you  kill  anything  that's  too 
big  for  you  to  pack  in,  you  can  come  down  and  get  a 
horse  for  it." 

The  next  morning  the  two  boys  started  early,  and 


A  BIGHORN  i8l 

for  a  long  time  scrambled  up  the  hill.  When  they 
reached  the  top  of  the  bench  above  camp,  they  found 
before  them  a  plateau,  more  or  less  level,  and  beyond 
that  rose  another  ridge,  which  cut  off  the  view.  They 
climbed  and  climbed  for  a  long  time,  passing  over  one 
bench  after  another,  and  at  length,  a  little  before 
noon,  Joe  saw  far  off  on  the  hillside,  at  about  the 
same  level  with  themselves,  three  mountain  sheep. 
They  were  on  quite  another  mountain,  for  there  were 
two  wide  gorges  between  them  and  the  boys  ;  and, 
what  was  more  to  the  point,  the  sheep  had  already 
seen  them  and  were  looking.  So  the  boys  kept  on 
climbing. 

At  last  they  reached  the  rocks,  a  great  brown  slope 
of  broken  weathered  lichen-covered  stories,  which  rose 
steeply  before  them ;  but  the  going  was  not  bad, 
and  they  climbed  up,  heading  always  for  a  place 
where  the  precipices  above  seemed  broken  away,  so 
that  they  could  get  through.  It  was  now  noon  and 
the  sun  shone  warm,  but  a  cool  breeze  was  blowing 
along  the  hillside,  and  the  air  was  fresh  and  invigorat- 
ing. Jack  said,  "  Now,  Joe,  when  we  get  to  the  top 
of  this  cliff  we'll  find  a  sheltered  place,  and  sit  down 
there  and  eat." 

*'  That  will  be  good,"  said  Joe ;  "  I'm  hungry.** 
They  had  now  climbed  quite  high,  and  looking  across 
at  the  mountain  on  the  other  side  of  the  stream, 
could  see  that  the  timber  was  small,  and  that  a  little 
higher  up  it  seemed  to  stop.  Joe  said,  **  We  ought  to 
see  sheep  up  here,  it  seems  to  me." 

"I  should  think  so,"  said  Jack,  "but  we'll  have  to 
wait  until  we  get  to  some  place  where  we  can  get   a 


i82  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

good  look  along  the  mountain."  Before  long  they 
reached  a  ravine,  and  clambering  up  it  for  some  distance 
came  out  on  a  rocky  hillside,  from  which  both  to  the 
north  and  south  they  could  see  a  long  way  over 
ground  that  for  the  most  part  was  open  and  steeply 
sloping.  Above  them  the  mountains  rose  in  a  series 
of  narrow  benches  —  a  bench  not  more  than  fifty  feet 
wide,  and  then  a  cliff  as  high,  then  another  bench,  and 
another  cliff,  and  so  on  up.  Here,  choosing  a  place 
which  was  sheltered  from  the  wind,  they  sat  down 
and  rested  for  a  while,  at  the  same  time  eating  their 
bread  and  dried  meat,  which  tasted  very  good.  When 
they  had  finished.  Jack  said  : 

"Now,  Joe,  you  know  more  about  the  mountains 
than  I  do.  What  shall  we  do?  Shall  we  keep  on 
climbing,  and  try  to  get  up  to  the  top,  or  shall  we 
walk  along  one  of  these  benches?  I  suppose  if  we 
do  that  we  might  easily  enough  run  across  some 
sheep,  for  at  this  time  of  the  day  they'd  be  likely  to 
be  lying  down  in  just  such  places." 

**Yes,"   said  Joe,  "that's  so;   but  if  they're  lying 
down  there,  they're  looking  'round  all  the  time,  and 
pretty  sure  to  see  you  before   you  see  them.     Then 
maybe  they'll  make  one  jump  out  of  sight,  going  up 
the  hill,  or  down,  and  you  don't  get  a  shot." 
"  Well,  then,"  said  Jack,  "  let's  go  higher.'* 
**  All  right,"  said  Joe,  "  we'll  go  ahead." 
"The  climb  was  steep  and  rough  and   hard,    but 
they  kept  at  it  for  sometime  longer,  and  at  last  found 
themselves   up   above  the  benches  and  on  a  gentle 
rounded  rock  slope,  where   little  grass  grew.     There 
arere  no  trees  or  tall  weeds. 


ALMOST  BELOW   THEM.    EEEDING,   WERE   TWO  GOOD   SIZED 

RAMS." — Page   183 


A  BIGHORN  183 

"  Now,"  said  Joe,  "  I  think  we've  got  to  the  place. 
Now  we  can  work  along  and  look  down  into  these 
ravines,  or  little  basins,  or  onto  the  ledges,  and  maybe 
if  we  see  sheep  we'll  be  above  them  and  can  get  to 
them.". 

They  followed  the  ridge  down  the  stream,  and  in 
the  first  ravine  that  they  came  to  they  saw  a  big  drift 
of  snow.  They  headed  that,  and  as  they  went  on, 
found  that  in  all  the  low  places  on  the  mountain  top 
there  was  more  or  less  snow.  They  had  gone  more 
than  half  a  mile  when,  peering  over  a  crest  of  rock, 
they  looked  down  into  a  pretty  little  basin  in  which 
there  was  a  good  deal  of  snow,  but  above  the  snow 
grew  green  grass,  and  almost  below  them  feeding  were 
two  good  sized  rams.  The  animals  did  not  see  them, 
and  they  drew  back. 

"Now,  Joe,"  said  Jack,  "which  of  us  shall  shoot? 
I  guess  you'd  better,  because  I  don't  think  you  have 
ever  killed  a  big  ram,  have  you  ?" 

"  No,"  said  Joe,  "  I  never  killed  a  ram  as  big  as  this, 
but  then  I've  killed  sheep,  and  I'll  have  plenty  of 
chances  to  hunt  when  maybe  you  won't.  You'd 
better  shoot." 

"  No,"  said  Jack,  "  I'd  rather  have  you.*' 

"  No,"  said  Joe,  **  you  shoot." 

"  Well,  I  tell  you,"  said  Jack,  *'  let's  toss  up  for  it,  the 
way  we  did  before,"  and  picking  up  a  small  flat  stone 
he  spat  on  one  side  of  it,  and  said,  "we'll  call  the  wet 
side  heads.  Now,  you  call,  "  and  throwing  it  up  in  the 
air,  Joe  called  "  Head  "  and  "  tail  "  came  uppermost. 

"All  right,"  said  Jack,  "that  settles  it."  He  stepped 
forward  and  shot,  and  Joe  stood  beside  him,  ready,  in 


i84  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

case  Jack  should  miss.  At  the  crack  of  the  gun  the 
two  sheep  jumped  a  little,  but  did  not  run  away  but 
stood  looking  in  all  directions.  Jack  said  to  Joe, 
*'  Now  you  give  him  another,"  and  Joe  fired  at  the 
sheep  Jack  had  shot  at.  Almost  as  the  gun  cracked, 
the  sheep  sank  to  his  knees,  and  its  head  fell  down. 
The  boys  reloaded  their  guns,  and  began  to  pick  their 
way  down  the  rocks  to  it.  The  other  ram  stood  until 
they  had  approached  quite  near  to  it,  and  then  sud- 
denly seeming  to  become  very  much  frightened,  rushed 
away  along  the  mountain  side,  and  was  soon  seen 
climbing  the  cliff. 

They  could  see  that  the  ram  that  had  fallen  was  big 
and  fat,  and  knew  that  they  could  not  take  the  whole 
of  the  meat  into  camp  with  them,  and  both  felt  quite 
sure  that  they  could  not  bring  an  animal  up  here.  At 
least,  if  they  could  do  so,  it  would  take  all  day  to  do  it. 
On  turning  over  the  sheep  and  examining  it,  they 
found  that  the  bullet  holes  made  by  the  two  shots  were 
only  two  inches  apart.  Both  were  shots  that  would 
have  killed  the  sheep  in  a  few  moments.  This  merely 
meant  that  Jack's  had  not  given  the  animal  a  shock 
sufficient  to  throw  it  to  the  ground. 

When  they  had  butchered,  they  found  the  sheep 
very  fat,  and  neither  Jack  nor  Joe  liked  the  idea  of 
leaving  the  greater  part  of  it  up  here  on  the  moun- 
tain  to  waste.  '*  I'll  tell  you  what  we'll  do.  Jack," 
said  Joe,  "  let's  each  of  us  take  one  of  the  shoulders 
and  try  to  carry  that  down  to  camp,  and  then 
to-morrow  we  can  come  up  here  with  the  horses  and 
see  if  we  can  get  the  rest  of  it  down.  We  can  tell  as 
*ve  go  home  what  sort  of  a  trail  there  will  be  up  here 


A  BIGHORN  185 

for  a  horse.  Of  course  we  can't  get  him  up  here  over 
these  cliffs  that  we  climbed,  but  maybe  by  following 
down  the  stream  that  runs  out  of  this  basin  we  can 
find  a  horse  trail." 

When  the  boys  got  into  camp  that  night  they  were 
both  pretty  tired.  They  told  Hugh  what  they  had 
done,  and  that  it  was  impossible  to  get  a  horse  up  as 
they  had  gone.  Of  course  there  might  be  some  other 
way  of  climbing  the  hills. 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  now  I'll  tell  you  what  we'll  do 
to-morrow  :  we'll  take  a  pack  horse,  and  all  of  us  go 
up  there  on  foot,  and  we'll  take  the  horse  as  far  as  we 
can,  and  when  we  can't  get  him  any  further,  why  of 
course  we'll  have  to  leave  him.  Then  we  can  bring 
the  meat  down,  or  most  of  it,  on  our  backs,  and  when 
we  get  to  the  horse,  put  it  on  him,  and  so  get  it  all  to 
camp." 

"Well,  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "let's  do  that;  but  I  tell 
you,  that  sheep  is  awful  heavy.  I  had  all  I  wanted  to 
carry  one  of  those  shoulders  down,  and  of  course  the 
hams  will  be  twice  as  heavy  as  the  shoulders.  I  don't 
believe  either  Joe  or  I  can  carry  those  hams." 

"  Oh,  well,  we  don't  any  of  us  know  what  we  can  do 
until  we  try.  I'd  like  to  stretch  my  legs  on  the 
mountains,  and  I'll  see  what  we  can  do  toward  bring- 
ing in  the  meat  to-morrow." 

While  breakfast  was  being  cooked  next  morning 
Hugh  told  the  boys  to  go  out  and  bring  in  the  dun 
horse,  for  he  was  the  stoutest  and  toughest  animal  in 
the  bunch,  and  besides  that,  Hugh  thought  him  the 
best  climber. 

Before  starting,    Hugh   had  the  boys  point  out  as 


I86  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

nearly  as  possible  the  direction  from  which  they  had 
come  the  night  before,  and  then  swinging  off  down 
the  hill,  he  worked  up  on  the  mountain,  the  others 
following  close  behind.  Studying  each  steep  ascent 
as  they  approached  it  over  the  more  or  less  level 
bench  below,  he  avoided  a  number  of  the  rock  climbs 
that  the  boys  had  made  the  day  before,  and  several 
times  led  the  horc^e  up  through  ravines  where 
Jack  would  not  hive  supposed  it  possible  for  any 
animal  except  a  sheep  or  a  deer  to  pass.  Jack 
noticed,  too,  Hugh's  method  of  climbing.  While  he 
walked  briskly  across  the  level  and  gently  sloping 
country,  he  climbed  steep  ascents  rather  slowly  and 
stopped  frequently.  The  boys,  of  course,  did  just  as 
he  did,  and  Jack  noticed  that  he  was  not  nearly  so 
tired  or  so  out  of  breath  as  he  had  been  during  the 
climb  of  the  day  before. 

During  one  of  the  rests  which  they  made  just  after 
reaching  a  bench,  Jack  said,  "  I  wonder  why  it  is, 
Hugh,  that  I  can  climb  so  much  better  to-day  than  I 
could  yesterday.  Yesterday  I  lost  my  wind  all  the 
time,  and  it  took  me  a  long  time  to  get  it  back. 
Every  time  I  climbed  up  one  of  these  steep  places, 
when  I  got  to  the  top  I  gave  out,  and  had  to  throw 
myself  down  and  pant  for  a  long  time  before  I  could 
go  on.  I  suppose  it's  because  I've  been  riding  so 
much,  and  doing  but  little  on  foot." 

"Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  reckon  that  has  something 
to  do  with  it;  but  how  did  you  climb  yesterday? 
Did  you  hurry  on  and  try  to  get  to  the  top  of  each 
cliff  quick,  going  as  fast  as  you  could,  and  then  stop 
and  rest  for  a  lon^  time?" 


A  BIGHORN  187 

•'  Yes,  that's  the  way  we  did.  We  wanted  to  get  up 
to  the  top  as  quickly  as  we  could,  and  see  what  was 
over  the  next  hill." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  that's  natural,  but  I  don't 
think  that's  the  way  to  climb  'round  among  the  moun- 
tains. You  get  along  as  fast,  and  I  think  easier,  if 
you  go  more  slowly  and  make  frequent  stops,  but 
have  them  short  ones.  If  you  go  hurrying  all  the 
time,  you  get  all  blown  by  the  hard  work  you're  doing, 
and  then  when  you  have  to  stop,  you  have  to  stop  a 
long  time,  and  after  you've  rested  for  a  long  time  you 
don't  feel  much  like  getting  up  and  going  on  again; 
you're  all  tired  out. 

"It  always  seems  to  me,"  he  went  on,  "  better  to 
climb  a  little  way  and  then  stop  and  take  a  few  deep 
breaths,  and  then  go  on  a  little  way  further,  and  then 
stop  and  breathe  again.  In  that  way  you  are  not 
nearly  so  tired  at  any  time,  and  the  whole  climb  is 
easier  for  you.  I  have  scrambled  'round  considerable 
in  the  mountains  myself,  and  that  is  the  way  I've 
learned  to  climb.  You  watch  through  the  rest  of  the 
day,  and  see  if  you  don't  find  it  easier  on  you  than 
it  was  yesterday." 

"I  will,"  said  Jack.  "  It  seems  a  good  deal  easier 
so  far,  but  then  we  haven't  climbed  anywhere  near  as 
Steep  places  as  we  did  yesterday." 

"That's  another  thing  you  want  to  learn,"  said 
Hugh:  "when  you're  climbing  the  mountains,  try 
always  to  pick  the  easiest  road  ;  it's  a  good  deal  less 
trouble  to  go  'round  and  take  the  easy  slopes,  even  if 
it's  twice  as  long,  than  it  is  to  buck  right  against  tht 
steep  face  of  a  hill.     Of  course  there's  lots  of  placeic 


188  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

where  there  are  no  easy  slopes,  and  you've  got  to  go 
up  over  bad  steep  sliding  shell-rock,  and  to  climb  up 
straight  cliffs ;  but  when  you  can  do  it,  it  pays  to 
take  the  easy  ways." 


CHAPTER  XV 

A  CHARGING  GRIZZLY 

They  were  now  getting  high  up  in  the  mountain, 
and  pretty  near,  Jack  thought,  to  where  the  sheep 
was.  The  horse  was  still  with  them,  and  it  astonished 
Jack  to  see  that  Hugh  found  a  means  of  getting  him 
up  or  around  every  clifl  or  rock  slide  that  they  met. 
At  length  they  were  so  near  the  top  that,  after  speak- 
ing  with  Joe  about  it,  Jack  told  Hugh  that  he  thought 
they  were  pretty  near  the  game.  One  more  high  clifT 
should  bring  them  to  the  little  basin  in  which  the 
sheep  lay. 

"  Well,  boys,  if  you're  sure  of  that,"  said  Hugh, 
"we'll  leave  the  horse  here,  and  maybe  we  can  pack 
the  meat  down  to  him  It's  getting  to  be  pretty 
steep  and  pretty  rocky  under  foot  ,  I  don't  want  to 
take  him  any  further  than  we  must." 

"  Well,"  said  Joe,  "  I  think  we're  right  close  now  — 
that  it's  just  over  this  little  bluff  ahead  of  us.'* 

Hugh  twisted  the  horse's  rope  around  a  little  bush 
that  grew  on  the  hillside,  and  then  turning  to  Joe 
said,  "Well,  Joe,  go  ahead,  and  take  us  up  to  it." 
Joe  started,  and  they  were  soon  at  the  ridge  ;  but  just 
before  passing  over  it,  Joe  made  a  motion  with  his 
hand,  and  sank  back  out  of  sight,  and  whispered  to 
Hugh,  '*  There's  a  bear  at  the  sheep.'* 


I90  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

"Sure?"  said  Hugh. 

**  Sure,"  said  Joe. 

"  Well,  how  can  we  get  at  him?**  asked  Jack,  who 
had  pushed  up  beside  Hugh. 

**  The  same  way  we  did  at  the  sheep,  I  guess,'*  said 
Joe.  *'  It  don't  look  very  far  from  here.  You  take  a 
look,  Hugh.  Hugh  climbed  up,  and  cautiously  rais. 
ing  his  head,  looked  for  a  few  seconds,  and  lowering  it 
again  said,  **  Well,  boys,  we've  got  more  than  we 
bargained  for ;  there's  two  bears  there,  a  big  one 
and  a  little  one.  Now,  let's  go  'round  to  the  left 
here,  and  get  behind  those  rocks  and  a  little  above 
them,  and  then  we'll  have  a  chance  to  look  at  them 
and  see  what  we'll  do." 

They  went  back  down  the  ravine,  and  then  a  little 
way  around  and  again  climbing  the  rocks,  found  that 
they  could  see  the  basin  in  which  the  sheep  lay,  and 
hurrying  forward,  they  soon  reached  its  rim  and  looked 
down  on  the  spot. 

Sure  enough,  there  were  two  bears,  tearing  away  at 
the  sheep's  carcass,  and  seeming  greatly  to  enjoy 
themselves.  They  looked  like  mother  and  cub,  and 
to  Jack  the  mother  looked  pretty  big.  They  had 
mauled  and  partly  eaten  the  fore  part  of  the  sheep's 
carcass,  and  had  dug  into  its  belly,  gnawing  the 
flanks. 

The  cub  paid  no  attention  to  anything,  and  was  eat- 
ing greedily,  but  the  larger  bear  stopped  feeding  every 
few  moments  and  looked  in  all  directions,  and  throw- 
ing up  her  head  seemed  to  snuff  the  breeze.  Fortu- 
nately, the  wind  was  blowing  from  the  southeast,  and 
so  up  the   stream,  and  there  was  no  danger  that  the 


A  CHARGING  GRIZZLY  191 

animal  would  detect  the  presence  of  human  beings ; 
yet  she  seemed  uneasy,  and   more  or  less  suspicious. 

"Well,  boys,"  said  Hugh,  "what  do  you  want  to 
do?     I   expect  you  want  to  kill  them  bears." 

"Yes,  indeed,  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "of  course  we 
want  to  kill  them." 

"Hide's  no  good  now,"  said  Hugh,  "they're  in 
summer  coat,  and  all  sunburned,  and  the  winter  coat 
isn't  started." 

"  Oh,  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "you  don't  mean  you  want 
to  let  those  bears  go.  Why  look  how  they've  torn 
our  sheep  to  pieces.  Why  they  ought  to  be  killed  for 
that,  if  for  nothing  else." 

"  Well,  well,  well,"  said  Hugh,  smiling,  "you  are  an 
unreasonable  creature.  Do  you  expect  if  you  leave 
meat  out  on  the  mountain  that  bears,  or  wolves,  of 
Indians,  or  white  people  either,  are  going  to  pass  it 
by  and  not  use  it  ?  How  do  you  suppose  those  bears 
knew  that  you  were  coming  back  ?  " 

Jack  saw  that  Hugh  was  making  fun  of  him,  and 
said,  "Well,  how  shall  we  take  them,  Hugh?" 

"  Fix  it  any  way  you  like.  Suppose  you  take  the 
old  bear  and  Joe  the  cub;  and  I  won't  fire  until  I 
have  to." 

"  All  right,"  said  Jack,  "  but  wouldn't  you  rather 
fire?  I've  had  some  hunting,  and  so  has  Joe  since 
we've  been  out,  and  you  haven't  had  a  shot. 
Wouldn't  you  like  to  kill  the  old  bear?" 

Hugh  laughed  again,  as  he  said,  "  No,  I'll  give  that 
up  to  you.  You  take  the  old  one,  and  Joe'll  take  the 
young  one;  but  I  tell  you,  the  young  one's  hide  is 
better  than  the  old  one's." 


192  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

"  Oh,  I  don't  care  about  that,"  said  Jack.  "  What 
do  you  say,  Joe,  does  that  suit  you  ?  " 

**yes,"  said  Joe,  *' it  suits  me  all  right/* 

"All  right  then,  let's  shoot  at  the  word  ;  and  you 
count,  Hugh  ;  when  you  say  three  we'll  both  fire." 

"All  right,"  said  Hugh,  "get  ready.  Are  you 
ready  ?  " 

Both  boys  grunted  in  assent.  One,  two,  three  !  the 
two  guns  cracked  at  the  same  instant.  The  smaller 
bear  fell  over,  and  then  sprang  to  its  feet,  screaming 
dismally,  and  ran  along  the  hillside.  The  larger  one 
turned  her  head  quickly  and  bit  at  the  place  at  which 
Jack  had  fired,  and  then,  without  a  moment's  waiting, 
came  rushing  toward  the  spot  over  which  the  smoke 
of  the  two  rifles  still  hung. 

"Hurrah,  boys!"  said  Hugh,  with  more  interest 
than  Jack  had  ever  seen  him  show.  "  Here  she 
comes ;  get  ready,  and  shoot  again."  The  two  boys, 
having  reloaded,  fired,  but  both  hurriedly,  and  the 
bear  made  no  pause,  but  kept  galloping  toward  them 
at  tremendous  speed.  She  was  now  within  thirty  or 
thirty-five  yards,  and  Hugh,  saying,  "  Scatter  out  if 
she  keeps  a-coming,  and  keep  shooting,"  raised  his 
rifle  to  his  shoulder  and  fired  ;  and  as  he  did  so,  the 
bear  crumpled  up  and  fell  to  the  ground,  and  after  a 
few  struggles,  lay  still ;  but  for  several  moments  all 
three  stood  with  loaded  guns,  waiting  to  see  what  she 
would  do. 

"She  was  a  tough  one,"  said  Hugh,  "but  I  reckon 
that  neither  of  you  boys  hit  her  a  second  time  to  do 
any  harm  to  her.  You  were  a  little  excited,  I  guess, 
and  shot  before  you  got  your  sights  rightly  drawed.     I 


A  CHARGING  GRIZZLY  ic^j 

tell  you  when  a  bear  is  coming  for  you,  that  isn't  the 
time  to  get  excited.  If  you  get  excited  when  a  deer 
or  antelope  is  running  away  from  you,  that's  all  right, 
but  when  a  bear  is  coming  to  you,  you  want  all  your 
wits. 

"  But  what  became  of  your  bear,  Joe,"  he  contin- 
ued. 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Joe;  "last  I  saw  of  him  he 
was  going  over  that  ridge,  squealing  a  whole  lot.  I 
know  just  where  he  went  over,  and  I  can  go  there  and 
look  for  him," 

"Well,  you'd  better,"  said  Hugh.  "But  first  let's 
see  if  there's  any  life  left  in  this  old  lady  down  here." 
They  slowly  approached  the  bear,  and  threw  stones  at 
her,  but  she  did  not  move.  Moreover,  much  blood 
was  running  from  her  mouth  and  nostrils,  and  she  was 
evidently  dead.  When  they  turned  her  over  to  skin 
her  they  saw  that  she  was  not  a  very  large  bear,  but  a 
grizzly.  Her  coat,  as  Hugh  had  said,  was  not  in  good 
order,  being  faded  and  sun-burned,  and  with  many 
thin  patches.  Still,  Jack  thought  it  would  be  worth 
taking  home  with  him,  and  he  and  Hugh  proceeded  to 
skin  her,  while  Joe  went  off  to  look  for  the  small  one. 

"Keep  your  eyes  about  you,  son,"  said  Hugh,  as 
the  boy  started.  "  Even  a  little  bear  can  scratch  and 
bite  a  whole  lot,  if  he  gets  hold  of  you.  If  you  find 
the  bear  lying  down,  don't  go  up  to  him  until  you're 
sure  either  that  it  is  dead  or  alive  ;  and  if  it  is  alive, 
kill  it." 


CHAPTER  XVI 

SOMETHING  ABOUT  BEARS 

As  they  began  to  skin  the  bear,  Jack  said,  **  I  want 
to  find  out  why  I  didn't  kill  this  bear,  Hugh;  I 
thought  I  held  all  right  on  it,  and  yet  my  shot  never 
seemed  to  faze  her." 

"Well,  I'll  tell  you  what  I  think,  son.  I  noticed 
where  she  seemed  to  snap  at  where  you  hit  her,  and  I 
reckon  you  forgot  you  were  shooting  down  hill,  and 
shot  a  little  high,  and  perhaps  hit  a  little  far  back. 
Now,  when  we  get  her  hide  off  we'll  see." 

Jack  thought  for  a  moment,  and  then  said,  "  Hugh, 
I  bet  you're  right.  She  made  a  kind  of  a  step  to  one 
side  just  as  I  was  pulling  the  trigger,  and  I  never 
thought  one  thing  about  holding  low  because  we  were 
above  her  on  the  hillside.  I  guess  if  we  open  her 
we'll  find  that  that  shot  of  mine  went  nearer  her  liver 
than  it  did  her  heart." 

"Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  wouldn't  be  surprised.  Of 
course  the  liver  is  a  pretty  deadly  shot  after  a  while, 
but  it  isn't  so  good  as  the  heart,  and,  as  I've  told  you 
\  guess  more  than  forty  times,  it's  always  better  to 
shoot  under  than  over." 

"Well,"  said  Jack,  "that  was  a  pretty  bad  blunder. 
I    feel   pretty    badly  about    that.     I   ought    to   have 


SOMETHING  ABOUT  BEARS  195 

known  better  than  to  have  done  such  a  thing.  I 
wonder  if  Joe  shot  over,  too.  I  hope  he'll  get  his 
bear,  so  that  we  can  know  about  it." 

The  work  of  skinning  the  bear  was  long  and  slow, 
and  Hugh  said,  when  they  drew  the  skin  out  from 
under  the  animal,  *'  Now  we've  got  it,  it  ain't  worth 
anything." 

It  was  found  that  Jack's  ball  had  struck  the  bear 
much  too  far  back,  and  so  that  it  passed  just  under  the 
spine,  yet  not  quite  high  enough  to  cut  the  great  vein 
that  passes  along  close  beneath  the  vertebrae.  The 
bear  might  have  lived  a  number  of  days,  or  even  have 
recovered,  with  this  shot  alone.  The  heavy  ball  from 
Hugh's  rifle  had  struck  her  in  the  back  of  the  neck, 
and  had  smashed  two  of  the  vertebrae,  and  lay  there 
flattened  in  the  muscles  of  the  neck.  As  Jack  looked 
at  the  wound  made  by  Hugh's  ball,  and  then  cut  the 
flattened  lead  out  and  held  it  in  his  hand,  he  said, 
"Well,  Hugh,  it's  mighty  sure  that  you  didn't  get 
excited,  anyhow.  That  was  an  awful  good  shot,  even 
if  it  was  close,  and  a  mighty  hard  shot  when  you  think 
how  fast  the  bear  was  coming." 

"Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "  of  course  in  a  case  like  that  a 
man*s  got  to  figure  close.  I  took  the  chance  of 
striking  her  on  the  top  of  the  head,  or  breaking  her 
neck,  or  breaking  her  back  right  between  the  shoul- 
ders; but  I  hit  just  the  place  I  wanted  to  hit.  I  don't 
hear  anything  of  Joe,"  he  went  on  ;  *'  let's  walk  over  to 
that  ridge  and  see  if  we  can  see  him.  I'd  like  to  see 
the  trail  left  by  that  bear,  and  maybe  call  Joe  back  if 
he's  going  too  far." 

They  walked  quickly  over   to   the   ridge,  and  had 


196  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

just  reached  its  top  when  they  saw,  a  little  way  below 
them,  the  figure  of  Joe  bending  over  something 
which  they  knew  must  be  the  bear,  and  going  to  him 
they  found  that  he  had  nearly  finished  skinning  it; 
and  a  few  minutes  help  by  Hugh  and  Jack  completed 
the  job. 

"  That  looks  like  good  meat,  Hugh,"  said  Jack. 
"  Is  it  worth  while  taking  any  of  it  along?" 

"  Do  as  you  like,"  said  Hugh.  "  I  don't  go  much 
on  bear  meat,  myself.  I've  had  to  eat  it,  but  then 
I've  had  to  eat  lots  of  other  things  that  I  didn't 
hanker  after.  If  you  like,  we  can  take  those  hams 
along.  The  horse  will  have  all  he  can  carry,  with  the 
sheep  if  any  of  it  is  worth  taking,  and  the  bear  skins. 
They've  mauled  that  animal  a  whole  lot,  I  reckon, 
and  it  may  not  be  fit  to  carry  to  camp."  Folding  up 
the  little  bear  skin,  Joe  put  it  on  his  back,  while 
Hugh  cut  off  the  hams  of  the  bear,  which  he  said  was 
a  yearling,  and  he  and  Jack  each  taking  one,  they 
started  back  to  look  at  the  sheep.  This  was  found  in 
bad  shape,  but  the  greater  part  of  both  hams  was 
uninjured,  and  cutting  these  off,  and  cutting  away  the 
part  where  the  bears  had  gnawed,  they  were  ready  to 
start  on  their  return. 

"  Jack,"  said  Hugh,  do  you  suppose  you  can  carry 
both  of  these  little  bear  hams?  If  you  can,  I'll  take 
both  the  sheep  hams,  and  then  come  back  here  and 
get  the  bear  skin.  But  one  of  you  boys  '11  have  to 
come  back  to  carry  my  rifle,  for  I  reckon  I  can't  tote 
both  the  skin  and  the  gun,  at  least  not  without  a  rope 
to  tie  the  skin  up  with." 

'*  I    guess   ,7eve  got  to   make  two   trips   anyhow,"" 


SOMETHING  ABOUT  BEARS  197 

said  Jack,  "  there's  too  much  to  carry  i  and  anyhow  it 
isn't  far." 

"  No,"  said  Hugh,  "  it  isn't  far."  The  two  trips  were 
made,  and  all  the  things  carried  to  the  edge  of  the 
cliff,  and  then  Hugh  said:  **  Now,  I'll  go  and  get 
the  horse.  I'd  rather  get  him  myself,  for  the  smell  of 
the  bears  '11  maybe  scare  him,  and  I  may  have  to  fool 
with  him  a  little.  You  boys  get  these  things  down  j 
get  the  bear  skins  down  first,  and  then  the  meat. 
We're  likely  to  have  some  trouble  packing  that  horse. 
I  don't  think  he'll  mind  the  meat,  but  the  smell  of  the 
bear  is  likely  to  scare  him." 

It  proved  as  Hugh  had  said ,  the  dun  made  a  great 
fuss  when  approaching  the  pile  which  constituted 
the  hunters'  spoils,  and  after  he  was  close  to  it  it 
was  necessary  for  Hugh  to  take  off  his  coat  and 
put  it  over  the  animal's  head,  and  tie  it  there  ;  and 
then  Joe  held  the  horse's  rope,  while  Hugh  and  Jack 
packed  the  load.  After  the  ropes  were  all  tied,  Hugh 
said  . 

"  Now  boys,  you  want,  both  of  you,  to  get  hold  of 
that  rope,  for  I  expect  when  I  get  this  blind  off  the 
horse  he'll  buck  plenty,  and  if  he  bucks  down  the  hill, 
he's  likely  to  turn  a  somersault,  and  roll,  and  break 
his  neck  before  he  stops  rolling." 

The  boys,  having  put  their  guns  well  up  above  the 
horse  on  the  hillside,  took  the  rope,  prepared  for  any- 
thing.  As  Hugh  had  said,  when  the  coat  was  taken 
from  the  horse's  head  he  partly  turned  his  head,  and 
giving  a  frightened  snort  at  the  load  on  his  back, 
began  to  buck.  If  he  had  gotten  his  head  down  the 
hill  he  would  certainly  have  fallen,  but  the  boys,  and 


198  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

with  them  Hugh,  kept  his  head  from  turning  down  the 
slope,  and  he  soon  tired  of  bucking,  and  though  once 
or  twice  he  staggered  as  if  about  to  fall  over,  they 
managed  to  keep  him  on  his  feet.  Though  he  bucked 
no  more  that  day,  he  was  still  much  alarmed  by  what 
he  was  carrying,  and  they  were  obliged  to  handle  him 
with  great  discretion  while  going  down  some  of  the 
steep  places ;  for,  as  the  load  pressed  forward  toward 
his  neck  he  would  snort  loudly,  and  roll  his  eyes,  as  if 
he  felt  that  he  must  do  something  to  get  rid  of  the 
terrifying  burden. 

They  reached  camp  Just  before  dark,  and  all  were 
glad  to  get  there.  When  they  stopped  before  the 
lodge,  Hugh  again  put  his  coat  over  the  horse's  head 
until  he  was  unpacked  and  unsaddled,  and  when  it 
was  taken  off,  the  dun  threw  head  and  tail  into  the 
air  and  trotted  out  to  the  other  horses,  looking  back 
and  snorting  fiercely,  showing  that  his  alarm  was  not 
yet  over. 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "I  believe  if  I  had  that  job  to 
do  over  again  I'd  rather  carry  the  stuff  down  on  my 
own  back  than  fool  with  that  horse.  If  I'd  known  we 
were  going  to  have  bear  skins  to  pack,  I  wouldn't  have 
taken  the  horse  along." 

Before  doing  anything  else,  Hugh  sent  the  two  boys 
with  the  axe  down  into  the  timber,  and  told  them  to 
get  a  slender  pole,  like  a  lodge  pole,  and  trim  it,  and 
bring  it  up  to  him.  Then  resting  the  ends  of  the  pole 
on  the  branches  of  two  trees,  about  six  feet  from  the 
ground,  he  spread  the  bear  hides  over  it. 

After  supper  that  night  the  talk  turned  to  what 
they  had  seen  and  done  that  day,  and  from  that  to 


SOMETHING  ABOUT  BEARS  199 

bears.  Jack  had  many  questions  to  ask  about  them, 
some  of  which  Hugh  could  not  answer. 

"  I  thought  bears  ahiiost  always  had  two  cubs,"  said 
Jack;  *'  but  this  one  only  had  one,  and  that  you  say  is 
a  yearling." 

"Well,"  said  Hugh,  "they  do  'most  always  have 
two  cubs,  and  sometimes  three,  and  sometimes  four. 
I've  heard  of  five,  but  I  never  saw  more  than  four, 
and  those  only  once.  I  expect  this  eld  bear  started 
in  with  two  cubs,  but  that  something  happened  to  one 
of  them.  You  see,  when  cubs  first  come  out  they  are 
pretty  small,  and  lots  of  things  are  likely  to  happen  to 
them.  This  old  she-bear  very  likely  lost  one  of  her 
cubs  when  it  was  a  little  one.  You  notice,  the  one 
we  killed  is  pretty  good  size  for  a  yearling,  and  fat 
and  in  good  order.  I  wouldn't  be  surprised  if  he'd 
had  all  his  m.other's  milk  now  for  over  a  year,  and 
that's  maybe  what  makes  him  so  fat." 

"  When  are  the  cubs  born  ?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  Most  people  think  they're  born  about  the  middle 
of  the  winter,"  said  Hugh.  "I  know  the  Indians 
think  that,  and  I've  had  one  or  two  men  tell  me  that 
they've  come  across  bear  dens  in  winter,  and  killed  the 
mother,  and  found  the  cubs  in  there  mighty  small — 
no  bigger  than  a  young  pup.  Anyhow,  by  the  time 
they  get  to  travelling  round,  in  May  and  June,  they're 
still  right  small,  not  near  so  big  as  old  Shep,  down  at 
the  ranch.  They  say  that  if  you  catch  the  black- 
bear  cubs  when  they're  right  small,  they  make  nice 
pets  for  a  while ;  but  I  never  heard  of  anybody  that 
got  very  friendly  with  young  grizzlies. 

"  I    remember   once,    years   ago,   Joe    Kipp   had  a 


200  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

couple  on  the  Blackfoot  Reservation,  that  one  of  the 
Indians  had  caught  and  brought  in  when  they  were 
right  small.  Joe  put  collars  on  them,  and  then  for- 
got to  take  them  off,  and  long  toward  the  end  of  the 
summer  both  bears  were  like  to  choke  to  death,  the 
collars  were  getting  so  small  for  them.  I  helped  Joe 
and  Hi  Upham  take  'em  off,  one  day,  and  'twas  a 
regular  circus.  Those  little  cubs  —  they  weren't  more'n 
a  foot  or  fifteen  inches  high  —  were  awful  mean,  and 
regularly  on  the  fight.  They  were  hard  to  catch,  too, 
and  if  you  did  get  hold  of  them  they'd  turn  quick  as 
a  wink  and  bite  or  scratch  you.  Finally,  we  cornered 
one  of  *em,  and  Joe  grabbed  it  by  the  ears  and 
held  it  between  his  legs,  while  Hi  held  the  fore- 
paws  and  I  loosened  the  collar;  but  it  came  pretty 
near  scratching  Joe's  overalls  to  pieces  with  its  hind 
feet.  We  did  the  same  thing  with  the  other  one.  I 
tell  you  they  were  mean  little  cusses. 

"  The  Indians  don't  like  bears  much  ;  ask  Joe," 
continued  Hugh. 

"  No,"  said  Joe,  "  Indians  don't  like  bears.  Afraid 
of  *em.  Bears  are  powerful  medicine,  you  know,  and 
some  people  won't  speak  about  a  bear,  or  won't  sit 
down  on  a  bear  skin,  and  of  course  they  won't  eat 
bear  meat.  There's  lots  of  stories  about  bears  among 
the  Piegans.  In  old  times,  you  know,  bears  used  to 
kill  lots  of  Indians;  and  the  Indians  had  only  stone 
arrows,  and  couldn't  do  anything.  If  a  bear  took 
after  a  man,  maybe  the  man  would  shoot  three  or  four 
arrows  into  him,  and  they  wouldn't  much  more  than 
go  through  his  hide,  and  just  make  him  madder  and 
madder  all  the  time,  and   at  last  he'd   iust  catch  the 


SOMETHING  ABOUT  BEARS  201 

man  and  tear  him  to  pieces.  One  story  my  grand- 
father told  me  a  long  time  ago,  and  I  heard  my  uncle 
tell  it  again  last  winter.  Would  you  like  to  hear  it, 
Jack?" 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE   STORY   OF   A   MAN-KILLER 

"  Yes,"  said  Jack,  "  this  is  bully  ;  I'd  love  to  hear  it.** 
**Well,"  said  Joe,  "this  happened  a  long  time  be- 
fore the  white  people  came.  In  those  days  we  didn't 
have  any  guns.  I  expect  the  bears  knew  that  they 
were  stronger  and  better  armed,  and  they  weren't  a 
bit  afraid  of  the  people.  Often  they  wouldn't  move 
out  of  the  road  if  they  saw  people  coming  ;  but  the 
people  were  always  afraid  of  them  and  willing  to  let 
them  alone.  Very  few  men  ever  killed  a  bear,  and 
those  that  had  done  so  were  thought  brave.  It  was 
more  to  kill  a  bear  than  it  was  to  kill  two  or  three  of 
the  enemy,  and  a  man  who  had  killed  a  bear  used  to 
string  its  claws,  and  make  a  collar  that  he  wore 
about  his  neck. 

**  In  those  times  we  had  no  horses,  and  the  only 
animals  that  we  packed,  or  that  hauled  the  travois, 
were  the  dogs  ;  and  so  the  people  did  not  wander  far 
over  the  prairie  as  they  do  to-day  ;  they  used  to  stop 
in  one  place  for  a  long  time,  and  did  not  move  camp 
except  for  some  good  reason.  You  see,  the  people 
could  pack  some  of  their  things  on  the  dogs,  but 
besides  that,  men  and  women,  and  sometimes  even 
the  children,  had  to  carry  heavy  packs  on  their  backs 
whenever  they  moved.     In  those  days,  a  great  place 


THE  STORY  OF  A  MAN-KILLER       203 

for  camping  in  summer  was  the  valley  of  Two  Medi. 
cine  Lodge  River.     You  know  where  it  is,  Hugh  ?  " 

"Yes,  I  should  say  so,"  said  Hugh. 

"  That  was  a  good  place.  Berries  grew  there,  big 
and  sweet ;  and  along  the  river  were  high  steep  bluffs, 
over  which  the  hunters  used  to  lead  the  buffalo, 
which  were  killed  by  falling  on  the  rocks  below. 

"One  summer  the  people  were  camped  there,  as 
usual.  It  had  been  a  good  summer.  All  about  the 
lodges,  whichever  way  one  looked,  you  could  see  only 
red,  the  red  of  meat  hanging  on  the  trees  and  bushes, 
and  scaffolds,  drying,  above  the  reach  of  the  dogs; 
and  all  over  the  ground,  spread  out  so  thick  as  to 
cover  almost  all  the  grass,  were  the  skins  of  buffalo, 
elk  and  deer,  on  which  were  heaped  berries,  curing  in 
the  sun,  to  be  used  during  the  winter.  No  wonder 
the  people  were  happy,  and  that  you  could  hear 
laughter  and  singing  all  through  the  camp.  They  had 
plenty  of  food;  they  feared  nothing.  No  enemies 
were  near  at  hand  ;  the  Stonies  of  the  north,  the 
Kutenais  and  Flatheads  of  the  west,  ran  away  when 
the  Piegans  came  in  sight ;  they  did  not  dare  to  wait 
to  fight  them. 

"  It  was  a  very  hot  day  ;  there  was  no  wind,  and  the 
sun  burned  down,  so  that  no  one  could  work.  The 
lodge  skins  were  raised,  and  all  the  people  sat  or  lay  in 
the  shade,  some  smoking,  some  talking  and  others  sleep- 
ing. Even  the  little  children  had  stopped  playing,  and 
the  camp  was  quiet.  Suddenly,  at  the  west  end  of  the 
village,  a  great  noise  was  heard,  cries  and  screams,  and 
wailing  by  women  ;  and  from  all  directions  men  and 
women  and  frightened  children  began  running  to  the 


204  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

place,  crying  to  each  other,  'What  has  happened? 
Who  is  it  that  is  suffering?'  About  two  women  who 
were  seated  on  the  ground  a  crowd  had  gathered. 
These  women  were  mourning  and  crying  and  sobbing 
as  they  wailed,  'Our  husband  !  our  husband !  a  great 
bear  seized  him,  and  carried  him  away  into  the  bushes. 
Oh,  we  shall  never  see  him  again.' 

"  The  chief  talked  to  them  ;  their  relations  and 
friends  tried  to  help  them,  and  little  by  little  in 
broken  words  the  women  told  what  had  happened. 
Early  that  morning,  with  their  husband,  they  had 
gone  up  the  river  to  pick  berries.  They  had  gone  far, 
and  the  sun  had  reached  the  middle  by  the  time  they 
came  to  the  bushes  where  the  berries  hung  ripe  and 
red.  There  were  so  many  that  it  had  taken  but  a 
little  time  for  them  to  gather  all  they  wished,  and 
they  had  started  toward  home  along  the  game  trail 
which  followed  the  stream.  The  women  were  walking 
ahead,  their  husband  following,  and  were  crossing  a 
grassy  opening  between  two  points  of  trees,  when 
suddenly  the  husband  shouted  to  them,  'Run,  run  fast 
to  the  nearest  trees  ;  a  bear  is  coming.* 

"  Looking  back,  they  had  seen  their  husband  run- 
ning as  fast  as  he  could,  and  behind  him  a  whitish 
colored  bear,  so  large  that  it  seemed  almost  as  great 
as  a  full  grown  buffalo  bull.  Its  mouth  was  wide 
open,  and  they  could  see  its  long  white  tusks  as  it 
raced  over  the  grass  with  great  jmnps.  The  women 
dropped  their  berry  sacks  and  ran  as  fast  as  they 
could.  Their  husband  was  now  close  behind  them, 
and  kept  urging  them  on  ;  but  fast  as  they  ran,  the 
bear  ran  faster,  and  the  husband,  seeing  that  it  would 


THE  STORY  OF  A  MAN-KILLER       205 

soon  overtake  them,  had  once  more  shouted  to  them 
to  'run  fast,'  and  then  had  stopped  to  face  the  bear, 
calling  out  that  he  would  try  to  save  them.  Just  as 
they  reached  the  trees  they  heard  a  fierce  growl,  and 
looking  back  saw  that  the  husband  had  shot  an  arrow 
into  the  bear,  but  before  he  could  shoot  another,  the 
beast  was  upon  him,  threw  him  down,  and  taking  him 
by  the  shoulder  dragged  him  to  the  timber  near  the 
river.  The  women  had  continued  to  run,  and  had 
come  to  the  camp  as  fast  as  they  could. 

"  When  they  had  told  their  story,  a  Kutenai  woman, 
a  captive,  who  had  learned  to  speak  Blackfoot,  spoke 
and  said,  'This  bear  is  surely  he  whom  my  people 
have  named  Man-eater.  He  is  a  great  traveler.  One 
summer  he  may  be  living  in  the  valley  of  the  Beaver- 
head, and  the  next  season  perhaps  he  will  be  found  on 
the  Elk  River  of  the  north.  The  Kutenais,  the 
Flatheads,  and  all  the  mountain  people  know  him  too 
well.  He  likes  the  flesh  of  human  beings  better  than 
that  of  game,  and  has  killed  many  of  us.  In  vain  the 
hunters  have  pierced  his  sides  with  their  sharpest 
arrows.  They  cannot  harm  him,  and  we  think  that 
he  possesses  some  strong  medicine,  and  cannot  be 
killed.  Indeed,  now  they  no  longer  try  to  kill  him, 
but  as  soon  as  he  appears,  they  move  camp,  and  travel 
a  long  distance  to  some  other  place.  Listen  to  my 
words  :  tear  down  your  lodges  now,  pack  the  dogs, 
and  move  away  at  once,  before  he  shall  kill  more  of 
you.' 

"That  night  the  chief  and  all  his  warriors  talked 
together  about  all  this,  and  after  they  had  counciled 
for  a  long  time,  they  said,  '  We  are  not   Kutenais,  to 


2o6  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

run  away  from  a  bear.  We  will  go  to  hunt  this 
animal,  and  avenge  the  death  of  our  friend.*  The 
next  day  they  started,  many  brave  warriors,  and  when 
they  reached  the  park  they  placed  some  of  the  strong- 
est and  best  bowmen  at  the  upper  end  of  the  bottom, 
while  the  rest  went  through  the  timber  to  drive  it 
toward  them.  They  found  the  body  of  their  friend, 
partly  eaten,  but  there  was  no  sign  of  the  bear  ;  he 
had  disappeared.  It  seemed  as  if  such  a  large  and 
heavy  animal  must  leave  behind  him  a  plain  trail  of 
weeds  crushed  down,  grass  flattened,  deep  marks  of 
feet  in  soft  and  sandy  places  ;  but  from  where  he  had 
eaten  that  poor  man  no  signs  were  seen. 

"  Why  did  they  not  listen  to  the  Kutenais  woman's 
words !  The  very  next  day,  almost  at  the  edge  of  the 
camp  the  great  bear  killed  two  women  and  carried 
one  of  them  away  to  feast  upon,  as  he  had  before 
done  with  the  man.  In  the  camp  the  screams  of 
the  poor  women  were  plainly  heard,  but  before  the 
men  could  arm  themselves  and  rush  to  the  place,  they 
were  dead. 

"  Now  the  whole  camp  turned  out,  every  man  ;  and 
making  a  ring  about  the  point  of  timber,  they  all 
drew  toward  its  center.  They  moved  slowly,  care- 
fully, each  man  with  his  arrow  fixed  on  the  string, 
and  said  to  each  other,  '  Surely  now  this  bear  will  not 
escape.* 

"A  thicket  of  close-set  willow  stems  grew  beneath 
the  great  cotton-woods,  and  from  a  clump  of  these 
willows  the  bear  sprang  on  one  of  the  men,  and 
crushed  his  head  with  a  single  blow  of  his  paw. 
'  Here  he  is,*  cried  those  nearby,  and  they  let  fly  their 


THE  STORY  OF  A  MAN-KILLER       207 

arrows  into  its  sides,  as  the  bear  stood  growling  and 
tearing  the  dead  person  ;  but  when  the  arrows  struck 
him  the  bear  sprang  here  and  there  among  the  men, 
turning  Hke  a  whirlwind  of  fur,  while  his  claws  cut 
and  his  jaws  snapped  ;  and  four  more  men  fell  to  the 
ground  dead  or  dying.     The  people  all  ran  away. 

"  Now  there  was  great  sorrow  and  mourning  in  the 
camp.  After  a  little  time  some  of  the  men  ventured 
back  into  the  timber,  and  brought  away  the  bodies  of 
their  companions;  and  the  women,  wrapping  them  in 
robes,  lashed  them  on  scaffolds  in  the  trees,  as  was 
the  old  way.  Then  at  last  they  listened  to  the  words 
of  the  Kutenai  woman.  The  lodges  were  pulled 
down,  everything  was  packed  up,  and  the  tribe  moved 
southward,  to  the  banks  of  the  Big  River.  Six  long 
days  they  were  on  the  trail,  and  the  man-eater  did  not 
trouble  them  again.  Perhaps  he  did  not  wish  to 
follow  them  ;  perhaps  some  one  of  the  arrows  shot 
into  him  had  killed  him.  So  the  people  talked  ;  but 
the  Kutenai  woman  laughed.  'You  may  be  sure,'  she 
said,  '  that  he  is  not  dead.  The  arrow  has  not  been 
made  that  will  reach  his  heart.  His  medicine  is 
strong.' 

"All  through  the  winter  the  people  talked  of  what 
had  happened,  and  of  the  camping  place  under  the 
cliffs  of  Two  Medicine  Lodge  River.  There  was  no 
place  where  it  was  so  easy  to  kill  meat  as  there,  and 
when  spring  came  they  moved  back  there  once  more. 
The  day  after  they  had  camped,  the  hunters  went  out, 
up  and  down  the  valley,  and  found  the  buffalo  and 
elk  and  deer  as  plenty  as  ever  ;  but  they  saw  no  sign 
of  the  great  bear. 


2o8  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

"The  next  day  the  chief's  son  went  out  with  his 
mother  and  sister,  to  watch  for  them  while  they  dug 
roots,  and  as  they  were  going  along,  without  any 
warning  the  great  bear  sprang  from  a  thicket  by  the 
trail,  struck  the  young  man  before  he  could  draw  an 
arrow,  and  carried  him  away  without  a  glance  at  the 
women,  who  stood  silent  in  their  fear. 

•'  Wlien  the  chief  was  told  what  had  happened,  he 
was  almost  crazy  with  anger  and  sorrow.  He  ordered 
all  the  men  in  the  camp  to  go  with  him  to  the  place. 
But  not  one  of  them  would  go.  '  It  is  useless',  they 
said  ;  *  we  are  not  fools  to  throw  away  our  lives  trying 
to  kill  an  animal  whose  medicine  is  so  strong  that  he 
cannot  be  killed  with  arrows.'  The  chief  begged 
and  threatened  them,  but  no  one  would  go  with  him 
to  recover  the  body  of  his  son.  All  feared  the  bear. 
That  day  camp  was  broken,  and  the  people  once  more 
moved  away  from  the  place  that  they  loved  best  of  all 
their  camping  grounds.  It  was  no  longer  theirs.  The 
bear  had  driven  them  from  it. 

"  From  that  day  the  chief  seemed  different.  Now 
he  no  longer  laughed  and  made  jokes  and  invited  his 
friends  to  feast  with  him.  Instead,  he  kept  by  him- 
self, seldom  speaking,  eating  little,  often  sitting  alone 
in  his  lodge,  and  thinking  always  of  the  dear  son  who 
had  been  taken  from  him.  One  day  he  took  his 
daughter  by  the  hand,  and  went  out  to  the  center  of 
the  camp,  and  called  all  the  people  together.  When 
all  had  come,  he  said  to  them,  '  My  children,  look  at 
this  young  woman  standing  by  me.  Many  of  you 
here  have  tried  to  marry  this  daughter,  but  she  has 
always  asked  me  to  allow  her  to  remain  unmarried, 


THE  STORY  OF  A  MAN-KILLER       209 

and  I  have  always  said  that  she  should  do  as  she 
wished.  Listen:  I  am  still  mourning  for  the  death 
of  my  son.  Now,  I  call  the  Sun,  who  looks  down 
upon  us,  and  who  hears  what  I  am  saying,  to  hear 
this:  whichever  one  of  all  you  men  that  shall  go  out 
and  kill  that  bear,  to  him  I  will  give  my  daughter  for 
his  wife.'  Then  he  turned  to  the  girl,  and  said  to  her 
*Have  I  spoken  well,  my  daughter?  Do  you  agree 
to  my  words  ?  *  The  girl  looked  at  him,  and  then  said 
aloud,  'Since  you  wish  it,  I  will  marry  the  man  who 
will  kill  that  bear,  and  will  thus  wipe  away  our  tears.' 

"Then  the  girl  hurried  back  to  her  father's  lodge. 

"All  through  the  camp  now  the  only  thing  talked 
about  was  tiie  offer  the  chief  had  made,  and  the 
young  men  were  trying  to  think  how  it  might  be 
possible  to  kill  this  bear  ;  yet  none  of  them  said  that 
he  intended  to  try  to  marry  the  girl,  for  they  all 
believed  that  the  bear  could  not  be  killed. 

"There  was  one  young  man  who,  when  he  heard 
the  words  of  the  chief,  was  glad.  Ravenhead  was  very 
poor,  he  had  not  a  single  relation,  and  as  far  back  as 
he  could  remember  he  had  lived  as  best  he  could. 
That  means  that  he  had  been  often  hungry,  and  had 
worn  poor  clothing,  and  had  often  lain  shivering 
through  the  winter  nights;  that  he  had  run  errands 
for  every  one,  and  had  often  been  scolded.  Now  he 
was  grown  up;  he  had  gone  out  to  dream  for  power, 
and  had  become  a  warrior.  His  dream  had  been 
good  to  him,  and  in  his  sleep  there  had  come  to  him 
a  secret  helper,  who  had  promised  to  aid  him  in 
time  of  danger  and  of  need.  For  a  long  time  the 
young  man  had  loved  the  daughter  of  the  chief,  but 


2IO  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

he  knew  that  one  so  poor  as  he  could  never  hope  to 
many  her.  Sometimes  when  he  happened  to  pass 
her  on  the  trail,  as  she  was  going  for  water  or  as  she 
walked  through  the  camp,  she  seemed  to  look  at  him 
kindly  and  as  if  she  were  asking  him  something;  yet 
she  never  spoke  to  him,  but  hurried  by,  and  he  was 
always  afraid  to  speak  to  her  ;  yet  sometimes  he  used 
to  ask  himself  what  her  kind  looks  meant. 

"  But  now,  since  the  chief  had  spoken,  it  seemed  as 
if  Ravenhead  miglit  hope.  Those  words  had  rolled 
away  the  clouds  that  hung  over  him,  and  if  he  could 
only  kill  the  bear,  he  could  marry  the  girl.  He 
determined  that  he  would  kill  the  bear;  someway 
could  be  found  to  do  it,  he  felt  sure.  Now,  for  a  little 
while  Ravenhead  kept  by  himself,  praying,  thinking, 
planning,  trying  to  devise  a  way  by  which  he  might 
kill  the  bear,  and  yet  himself  not  be  hurt.  Four  days 
passed,  and  yet  in  all  the  camp  no  one  had  said  that 
he  intended  to  try  to  marry  the  girl.  This  made 
Ravenhead  glad. 

"  And  there  was  another  thing.  F'or  four  nights  he 
had  dreamed  the  same  dream.  In  his  sleep  he  saw 
the  picture  of  a  great  bear,  painted  as  large  as  if  alive, 
upon  the  side  of  a  new  lodge.  It  was  painted  in  black ; 
the  long  claws,  and  open  jaws,  with  their  great  white 
tusks,  showed  plainly  ;  and  from  the  mouth  ran  back 
the  life  line,  a  green  band  passing  from  the  mouth 
back  to  the  heart,  which  was  red.  Ravenhead  was 
sitting  by  the  river,  considering  his  dream  reaching 
out  dimly  with  his  mind  for  its  meaning  when  sud- 
denly he  sprang  to  his  feet  as  if  he  had  been  stung, 
for   all   at    once   there  had    flashed    upon    him    what 


THE  STORY  OF  A  MAN-KILLER      211 

seemed  to  be  the  way  of  success.  The  dream  had 
shown  it  to  him. 

"  He  turned  toward  the  village,  and  there,  only  a 
step  or  two  away,  stood  the  chief's  daughter,  holding 
her  water-skin,  looking  at  him  as  she  had  looked 
before.  Ravenhead  stepped  forward  and  stood  near 
her.  Twice  he  tried  to  speak,  but  the  words  would 
not  come.  Then  he  looked  at  her,  and  as  she  smiled 
at  him,  he  said,  '  I  am  going  to  hunt  the  great  bear, 
and  if  I  return  I  shall  come  to  you.'  The  girl  dropped 
the  water-skin,  and  put  her  arms  about  his  neck,  as 
she  said,  *  I  have  tried  to  make  you  see,  so  far  as  a 
girl  can,  that  I  love  you.'  They  kissed  and  clung  to 
each  other,  there  by  the  river;  but  soon  the  girl  sent 
him  from  her,  telling  him  to  take  courage;  to  go,  and 
to  return  safe  and  successful.  When  he  had  gone 
she  stood  there  by  the  river,  and  not  able  to  see 
before  her  for  the  tears  which  filled  her  eyes,  as  she 
prayed  to  the  Sun  to  protect  the  young  man. 

"  Ravenhead  travelled  for  four  days  before  he 
reached  the  old  camp  grounds,  near  the  Two  Medi- 
cine Lodge  cliffs.  He  had  left  the  village  alone  ;  no 
one  but  the  girl  had  known  his  purpose.  He  came 
out  into  the  valley,  and  looked  up  and  down  it,  see- 
ing nothing  except  the  game,  feeding  peacefully,  and, 
lashed  on  their  platforms  in  the  branches  of  the  trees, 
the  silent  forms  that  the  bear  had  killed.  He  won- 
dered if  he,  too,  was  to  become  a  prey  of  this  medi- 
cine animal. 

"All  that  day  Ravenhead  walked  about  the  valley, 
looking  for  the  bear,  keeping  in  the  open  timber  or 
along  its  borders,  where  he  could  look  over  the  parks 


212  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

and  the  slopes  of  the  valley.  He  did  not  pass  close  to 
the  thickets  of  brush,  or  to  sloughs  of  tall  g'.ass, 
where  the  bear  might  lie  hidden.  On  his  back,  in 
case  and  quiver,  were  his  bow  and  his  arrows;  only 
three  of  these,  for  he  had  been  too  poor  to  trade  for 
more,  and  he  would  not  beg  for  any.  He  carried  also 
a  pouch  of  dried  meat,  that  he  had  killed  and  roasted 
the  day  before,  and  a  little  bag  of  small  stones. 

"Although  he  kept  looking  until  dusk,  he  did  not 
see  the  bear,  and  then,  building  a  platform  of  poles 
in  a  tree,  he  lay  down  on  it  and  slept.  That  night,  in 
his  dream,  he  again  saw  the  picture  of  the  bear;  and 
as  he  was  looking  at  it,  his  secret  helper  came  to  him, 
and  pointing  at  it  said,  *  Thick  fur,  tough  hide,  hard 
muscle,  and  broad  ribs  may  stop  the  sharpest  arrow. 
The  easy  way  to  reach  the  heart  is  down  through  the 
throat.' 

"  This  was  what  had  come  to  him  so  suddenly  the 
day  he  sat  thinking  and  planning  by  the  riverside 
back  of  the  village.  He  did  not  believe  that  this 
bear  had  powerful  medicine,  or  that  he  could  not  be 
killed.  If  he  only  could  shoot  an  arrow  down  its 
throat,  he  believed  that  he  would  be  successful. 

"As  soon  as  day  had  come,  Ravenhead  climbed 
down  from  the  tree,  and  again  began  to  search  for 
the  bear,  hopefully  now,  yet  constantly  praying  to 
the  Sun  to  grant  him  success. 

"  It  was  yet  early  in  the  morning  when  he  saw  the 
great  bear,  lazily  walking  across  a  little  park  toward 
the  river,  and  stepping  out  from  the  shelter  of  the 
timber,  Ravenhead  shouted  to  attract  its  attention. 
The  bear  reared   up   at  the  sound ;  then  Ravenhead 


THE  STORY  OF  A  MAN-KILLER       213 

first  saw  how  great  he  was  ;  and  as  the  bear  stood 
there  on  his  broad  hind  feet,  he  turned  his  head 
slowly,  this  way,  that  way,  smelling  the  air.  Raven- 
head  waved  his  robe,  and  shouted  again,  calling  the 
bear  coward  and  other  bad  names  ;  and  presently  the 
bear  slowly  dropped  down  on  all  fours  and  came 
toward  him.  The  young  man  had  gone  out  some 
little  distance  into  the  park,  but  now  he  began  to  go 
back  toward  the  timber,  and  as  he  went  faster,  so  did 
the  bear,  until  both  were  running  very  fast,  and  the 
bear  was  gaining.  To  the  young  man,  looking  back, 
it  seemed  scarcely  to  touch  the  ground  ;  and  it  drew 
nearer  and  nearer,  though  he  was  running  as  fast  as  he 
could.  Presently,  he  could  hear  the  bear  pant,  and 
just  as  he  did  so  he  reached  the  foot  of  the  nearest 
tree.  Almost  in  an  instant  he  was  up  among  the 
branches,  but  he  was  not  too  soon.  The  claws  of  the 
bear  almost  grazed  his  heels,  and  tore  away  a  great 
piece  of  the  bark.  From  the  limb  on  which  he  sat, 
Ravenhead,  panting  for  breath,  looked  down  at  the 
bear  as  it  sat  at  tlie  foot  of  the  tree.  The  beast  was 
huge,  its  head  monstrous,  its  eyes  little  and  mean, 
and  from  its  mouth,  in  which  the  long  white  teeth 
showed,  the  foam  dripped  down  over  its  neck  and 
shoulders, 

"  The  young  man  drew  his  bow  from  its  case,  and 
fitted  an  arrow  to  the  string,  and  then  taking  a  stone 
from  his  sack,  threw  it  down,  hitting  the  bear  on  the 
nose.  The  bear  jumped  up,  growling  with  rage  and 
pain,  and  tlien  came  a  shower  of  stones,  one  after 
another,  hitting  him  on  the  head,  the  body,  and  the 
paws,  and  each  one   hurting.     He   bit   at   the   places 


214  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

where  they  struck,  growled,  and  tore  up  the  ground, 
and  at  last  rushed  to  the  tree,  trying  to  drag  it  down, 
or  to  climb  up  it,  reaching  up  as  far  as  he  could,  in 
his  attempt  to  seize  his  tormentor. 

"Here  was  the  chance  that  Ravenhead  had  been 
jplanning  for,  praying  for,  waiting  for.  He  bent  far 
over  toward  the  bear,  and  drawing  the  arrow  to  its 
head,  drove  it  with  all  his  might  down  the  bear's  gap- 
ing throat.  The  great  jaws  shut  with  a  snap,  the 
growl  died  away  to  a  wheezing  cough,  and  then,  after 
a  moment,  while  the  blood  streamed  from  his  nose 
and  his  lips,  the  great  bear  sank  back  to  the  ground. 
His  gasping  breath  came  slower  and  slower,  and  then, 
with  a  long  shudder  which  almost  frightened  Raven- 
head,  so  strong  was  it,  he  died. 

"  There  was  great  excitement  in  the  village ;  people 
running  to  and  fro  and  calling  to  one  another;  women 
and  children  standing  in  groups  and  pointing  to  a 
young  man  who  was  entering  the  camp.  Ravenhead 
had  returned,  weary,  bloody,  and  dusty,  and  stagger- 
ing under  the  weight  of  the  head  and  part  of  the  hide 
of  the  great  bear.  The  people  gathered  about  him, 
tailing  out  his  name  and  singing  songs  of  what  he 
had  done,  and  followed  him  to  the  door  of  the  chief's 
lodge,  where  he  threw  down  the  heavy  burden.  The 
chief  came  out,  and  put  his  arms  about  him,  and  led 
him  inside,  and  gave  him  the  seat  at  his  left  hand. 
The  chief's  daughter  set  food  before  him  ;  she  did  not 
speak,  but  her  face  was  happy.  The  young  man  told 
the  chief  how  he  had  killed  the  bear,  and  while  he 
was  talking,  the  women  hurried  to  make  a  sweat  lodge 


THE  STORY  OF  A  MAN-KILLER       215 

for  him,  and  when  it  was  ready,  with  the  chief  and  the 
medicine  men,  he  entered  it  and  took  a  sweat,  purify- 
ing his  body  from  the  touch  of  the  bear.  Then,  after 
the  sweat  had  been  taken,  and  the  prayers  said,  and 
he  had  plunged  in  the  river,  they  all  returned  to  the 
lodge,  just  as  the  sun  was  setting.  The  chief  pointed 
to  a  new  lodge,  set  up  near  his  own.  'There  is  your 
home,  my  son;  may  you  live  long  and  happily.'  Ra- 
venhead  entered  and  saw  his  wife. 

"  Without,  the  people  were  dancing  around  the 
scalp  of  the  bear.  They  were  happy,  for  the  death 
of  the  bear  had  wiped  away  the  tears  of  those  whose 
relations  he  had  killed." 

"  That's  a  splendid  story,  Joe,"  said  Jack.  "  That's 
about  the  best  story  I  ever  heard.  I  wish  I  could 
remember  it  to  tell  it  when  I  get  back  east,  the  way 
you  tell  it." 

"  Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "  that's  a  mighty  good  story,  and 
mighty  well  told.     Who  did  you  hear  it  from,  Joe?" 

"  I  heard  it  first  from  Four  Bears,  and  then  after- 
wards I  heard  my  uncle  tell  it." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "you  told  it  mighty  well,  but  I 
don't  wonder  much,  for  Four  Bears  is  about  the  best 
story  teller  I  ever  heard.  But  you  remember  it 
mighty  well,  and  tell  it  well.  It's  a  right  good  story. 
"  Now,  boys,"  he  added,  "  I  think  to-morrow  we'll 
pack  up  and  go  a  day  or  two  further  down  the  creek 
here,  and  then  see  what  turns  up.  These  horses  of 
ours  have  filled  themselves  up  pretty  well  now,  and 
are  able  to  go  along  all  right,  and  we  might  as  well  go 
on  a  little  further.  So,  say  we  pack  up  to-morrow 
morning," 

"  All  right,"  said  the  boys,  and  they  went  to  bed. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

jack's  first  moose 

Travel  down  the  stream  next  day  was  easy.  The 
valley  widened  out,  and  the  hills  on  either  side  grew 
lower.  Twice  during  the  march  they  came  to  broad 
meadows,  partly  overgrown  with  willows,  old  beaver 
meadows,  Hugh  said;  and  instead  of  going  through 
them  they  went  around  close  to  the  hills,  so  as  to 
avoid  any  possible  trouble  from  miry  spots. 

After  supper  that  night  at  camp  Hugh  said  to  the 
boys,  "I  reckon  pretty  quick  we'll  turn  off  south  and 
follow  up  some  creel;,  so  as  to  get  over  to  the  Divide, 
and  cross  down  onto  Sweetwater.  If  I  ain't  mistaken, 
before  we  get  much  further  along  we'll  strike  a  big 
stream  coming  in  from  the  south,  and  when  we  do, 
we've  got  to  turn  and  follow  that  up.  I've  heard  tell 
of  a  little  town  off  here  to  the  south,  but  I  don't 
know  where  it's  at,  and  we  don't  want  to  go  to  it, 
anyhow." 

About  noon  next  day  they  began  to  see  a  wide  val- 
ley opening  up  to  the  south,  and  Hugh  told  them  that 
this  must  be  the  creek  he  had  been  looking  for. 
They  did  not  follow  the  stream  down  to  where  the 
river  from  the  south  joined  it,  but  cutting  across 
southwest,  climbed  the  hill,  and  journeyed  through 
beautiful  green  timber  in  the  direction  in  which  they 


JACK'S  FIRST  MOOSE  217 

wished  to  go.  Several  times  they  came  on  beautiful 
mountain  lakes  lying  in  the  timber,  and  while  passing 
one  of  these  Hugh  stopped  and  pointed  to  the  ground, 
and  when  Jack  came  along  he  saw  there  a  track  which 
he  knew  must  belong  to  a  moose.  He  wished  that  he 
might  get  a  shot  at  a  moose,  and  kept  his  eyes  wide 
open  as  they  journeyed  along,  but  saw  nothing.  Two 
or  three  times  during  the  day  they  rode  near  enough 
to  the  river  they  were  following  up  to  hear  its  rusliing, 
and  the  noise  of  water-falls,  but  they  could  not  see 
them.  Hugh  did  not  seem  to  be  following  any 
road  at  all, — there  was  not  even  a  game  trail, —  but  he 
tvound  in  and  out  among  the  timber,  keeping  in  the 
general  direction  from  which  the  river  came.  About 
the  middle  of  the  afternoon  he  turned  to  the  left,  and 
worked  down  into  the  valley  of  the  stream,  which, 
though  often  narrow,  sometimes  spread  out  and 
showed  charming  little  park-like  meadows,  in  one  of 
which  they  stopped  to  camp.  After  camp  had  been 
made,  the  horses  attended  to,  and  supper  eaten.  Jack 
said  to  Hugh,  *' Are  there  many  moose  in  this  coun- 
try, Hugh  ?  " 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  don't  know  exactly  what 
you  call  many.  There  used  to  be  plenty  here,  and 
I  expect  if  a  man  was  hunting  he  might  run  across 
one  once  in  a  while.  Of  course  moose  stick  close  to 
the  timber  and  the  brush,  and  you  don't  see  them  as 
easily  as  you  do  the  elk,  that  feed  on  the  bald  hill- 
sides or  on  the  prairie." 

"  I'd  like  mighty  well  to  get  a  shot  at  one,"  said 
Jack. 

"Well,"  said  Hugh,  "it  might  be  such  a  thing  as 


2i8  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

you  could  do  that,  but  you're  not  likely  to,  unless  we 
stop  for  a  day  or  two  to  hunt.  We  can  do  that  most 
any  time  now,  if  we  feel  like  it.  We've  got  over  the 
ridge,  and  there's  no  danger  of  any  snow  falling,  to 
stop  us,  but  of  course  it's  getting  cooler  all  the  time. 
If  you're  going  to  kill  an  animal  for  meat  you'd  better 
kill  a  cow.  On  the  other  hand,  if  you  want  a  big 
head,  why  of  course  you'll  kill  a  bull ;  but  the  bulls 
are  pretty  poor  eating  now ;  they  were  better  two 
weeks  ago,  just  like  the  elk  was.  We've  got  quite 
a  little  way  to  go  yet,  and  of  course  we've  got  to  have 
meat  to  eat ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  we've  got  the 
hams  of  that  sheep,  and  the  piece  of  that  little  bear, 
and  we're  going  through  a  good  game  country  all  the 
way,  so  that  I  wouldn't  kill  anything  more  until  we 
need  it." 

"Well,  Hugh,  we've  had  lots  of  hunting;  let's  not 
kill  anything  more  until  we  need  it.  Maybe  there'll 
be  a  show  down  on  the  Sweetwater  to  get  a  moose." 

"Well,"  said  Hugh,  "maybe  there  will  be;  yet 
this  is  a  better  place  than  that.  But  we'll  be  in  good 
moose  country  for  quite  a  way  j^et,  and  maybe  you'll 
get  a  chance  to  kill  a  moose,  if  you  want  to  very  bad." 
The  stream  that  they  were  following  up  grew 
smaller  and  smaller,  yet  Hugh  continued  to  follow  it, 
and  in  the  same  southerly  direction.  He  told  the 
boys  that  this  stream  headed  in  the  Divide,  between 
Wind  River  and  Sweetwater,  and  that  when  they  came 
to  the  head  of  this  creek  it  was  only  a  short  distance 
over  to  others  running  into  some  of  the  heads  of  the 
Sweetwater. 

"  It  ain't  far,  and  it  ain't  a  high  climb,"  he  contin- 


JACK'S  FIRST  MOOSE  219 

ued,  "  and  after  we  strike  the  Sweetwater,  it's  a  plain 
trail  right  down  to  the  Platte,  and  then  across  that  is 
home.  I  don't  rightly  know  how  far  it  is,  but  I  reckon 
it's  not  far  from  two  hundred  miles." 

"That  means  ten  days  then,  Hugh,  does  it?'' 

"Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  you  might  call  it  ten  days.    Of 

course  that  means  if  we  don't  have  any  trouble.     If 

we  should  get  into  any  difiticulties,  or  lose  a  horse  or 

two,  or    something  of    that    kind,  it    might    take    us 

onger. 

Three  days  later  they  had  crossed  over  the  Divide, 
between  the  Wind  River  and  Sweetwater  drainages, 
and  were  making  their  way  through  the  timber  down 
toward  the  Sweetwater.  Camp  had  been  made  early. 
One  of  the  pack  horses  had  hurt  its  foot  during  the 
day,  and  had  gone  lame,  and  Hugh  wanted  to  rest  the 
animal  for  a  day  or  two;  otherwise  it  might  become 
so  lame  that  he  would  have  to  leave  it  behind.  About 
the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  Joe  and  Jack  started  out 
from  camp  to  hunt,  Joe  taking  the  hills  to  the  right  of 
the  camp,  and  Jack  those  to  the  left. 

It  was  pleasant  going  through  the  green  timber  so 
quietly  as  to  make  no  sound,  and  watching  constantly 
between  the  tree  trunks,  to  see  the  motion  of  any  liv- 
ing thing  that  might  appear.  There  were  a  few  birds 
in  the  upper  branches  of  the  trees,  and  now  and  then 
a  grouse  walked  out  of  the  way.  Jack  entered  one  of 
those  level  pieces  of  forest  where  the  trees  stand  a  little 
apart  and  the  ground  is  covered  with  the  pale  green 
stems  of  the  little  mountain  blueberry,  which  in  fact 
is  not  blue  in  color,  but  red.  This  little  fruit  is  very 
delicious,  and  a  favorite  food    for    birds  and    beasts. 


220  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

Jack  came  to  a  patch  where  the  berries  were  thick, 
and  sitting  down  began  to  strip  them  from  the  stems 
and  eat  them.  Now  and  then  he  could  hear  the 
whistle  of  a  meat-hawk,  the  harsh  grating  cry  of 
a  Clark's  crow,  and  the  shrill  scream  of  a  hawk  that 
soared  far  above  the  forest.  Jack  thought  it  most 
pleasant,  and  he  liked  to  be  there  alone  and  just  look 
about  him,  and  see  and  listen.  It  seemed  to  him  a 
place  wliere  at  any  moment  some  great  animal  might 
step  into  sight,  and  begin  to  feed  or  to  go  about  any 
of  the  operations  of  its  daily  life,  not  knowing  that 
he  was  there  watching  and  enjoying  it  all. 

And  just  as  these  thoughts  were  passing  through 
his  mind,  something  of  this  sort  happened.  It  was 
not  a  very  large  animal,  but  the  sight  was  a  pretty 
one,  none  the  less.  He  saw  the  slender  stems  of  the 
huckleberry  bushes  shake,  thirty  or  forty  yards  from 
him,  and  the  shaking  came  nearer  and  nearer,  and 
presently  he  was  able  to  distinguish  tliat  a  dozen 
grouse  were  coming  toward  him,  feeding  on  the  ber- 
ries. He  sat  still,  hardly  daring  to  breathe,  and  before 
very  long  the  birds  were  close  to  him,  and  in  a  mo- 
ment more  were  all  about  him.  He  could  see  the  old 
hen,  larger  than  all  the  rest,  and  with  frayed  and  faded 
plumage,  while  the  young  birds,  but  little  smaller, 
were  much  more  highly  colored, — bright  brown 
and  white  and  bluish.  They  seemed  sociable  little 
creatures,  for  they  were  talking  all  the  time,  calling 
to  each  other  much  as  a  flock  of  young  turkeys  would 
call,  and  seeming  uneasy  if  they  became  separated. 
There  was  one  bird  that  wandered  of?  quite  a  little 
to  one   side,  and  as   the  cries  of  its   fellows  became 


JACK'S  FIRST  MOOSE  221 

fainter  as  they  passed  along,  the  bird  stood  very 
straight,  with  its  head  much  higher  than  usual,  and 
erected  the  feathers  of  its  head  and  neck  so  that 
they  stood  on  end,  giving  it  a  very  odd  appearance. 
As  soon  as  it  had  located  the  brood,  the  bird 
smoothed  down  its  feathers  and  ran  quickly  toward 
the  others.  When  the  group  got  to  where  Jack  was 
sitting,  they  paid  no  attention  to  him  whatever.  One 
of  them  stopped  immediately  in  front  of  him,  and 
looked  carefully  at  his  face,  but  at  once  resumed  its 
feeding;  and  passing  on  both  sides  of  him,  they 
went  on. 

Jack  did  not  wish  to  frighten  them,  and  so  turned 
his  head  and  body  very  slowly  to  look  after  them,  and 
he  did  it  so  carefully  that  the  birds  were  not  alarmed, 
but  finally  passed  out  of  sight  and  hearing  without 
being  frightened. 

This  small  adventure  gave  Jack  very  great  pleasure, 
and  he  felt  as  if  he  had  already  been  well  repaid  for 
his  walk.  Keeping  on  through  the  forest,  he  went 
down  a  gentle  slope,  and  presently  found  himself  at 
the  edge  of  a  little  meadow,  surrounding  a  very 
pretty  lake.  Nothing  was  to  be  seen  there,  and  he 
stepped  out  of  the  bushes  to  go  down  to  the  water. 

He  was  going  along  rather  carelessly,  holding  his 
rifle  in  the  hollow  of  his  left  arm,  when  from  a  bunch 
of  willows  just  before  him  a  huge  black  animal  with 
horns  rushed  out,  and  trotted  up  the  meadow  toward 
the  timber.  Instantly  Jack  knew  that  it  was  a  moose, 
and  throwing  his  gun  to  his  shoulder,  he  fired  at  the 
animal  just  before  it  reached  the  fringe  of  willows  at 
the  edee  of  the  meadow.     It  seemed  to  him  that  the 


222  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

creature  flinched  a  little  and  then  went  faster,  but  he 
could  not  be  sure.  What  was  certain  was  that  it  did 
not  fall.  Taking  up  the  track,  he  followed  it  for 
some  distance  through  the  timber — not  a  difficult  task, 
for  the  moose  was  trotting  rapidly  and  throwing  up 
dirt  at  every  stride.  At  length,  however,  he  came  to 
a  piece  of  rocky  ground,  where  the  tracks  were  much 
harder  to  follow,  and  presently  he  lost  them  and  had 
to  circle  two  or  three  times  to  find  them,  and  from 
that  on  the  work  of  picking  them  out  was  slow. 
Soon,  too,  he  noticed  that  it  was  growing  darker,  and 
looking  at  the  sky  he  concluded  that  the  sun  had  set. 
He  had  a  mile  or  two  to  go,  and  as  he  did  not  wish  to 
lie  out  during  the  night,  he  reluctantly  left  the  moose 
track  and  started  back  for  the  camp.  He  hurried  as 
fast  as  he  could,  and  made  good  progress;  but  after  it 
really  got  dark  it  was  impossible  to  go  very  fast.  He 
did  not  feel  like  firing  his  gun,  because  that  would 
be  as  much  as  to  say  to  the  people  in  the  camp  that 
he  was  lost,  and  he  did  not  wish  to  do  this.  He 
worked  his  way  along,  therefore,  keeping  toward  camp 
as  nearly  as  he  could,  but  more  by  guess  than  any- 
thing else,  because  the  trees  stood  so  close  that  the 
stars  could  not  be  seen.  However,  the  little  light  that 
still  lingered  in  the  west  gave  him  some  idea  of  direc- 
tion. 

At  last  the  ground  began  to  slope  in  the  direction 
in  which  he  was  going,  and  before  long  he  saw  in  the 
sky  the  glare  of  a  fire.  He  made  sure  that  this  was 
the  camp,  and  hurrying  along  as  fast  as  possible,  fre- 
quently stumbling  over  rocks  and  sticks  and  occasion- 
ally running  his  face  into  the  twigs  of  a  dry  spruce 


JACK'S  FIRST  MOOSE  223 

limb,  he  at  last  found  himself  near  the  bottom  of  the 
hill,  and  could  see  the  gleam  of  the  fire  through  the 
tree-trunks.  Before  long  he  was  close  to  camp,  and 
saw  that  Hugh  and  Joe  had  built  quite  a  bonfire  in 
front  of  tiie  lodge.  It  was  the  reflection  of  this  that 
he  had   seen  in  the  sky. 

As  he  walked  up  to  the  fire,  Hugh  said,  "  Well,  here 
you  are,  eh?  We  didn't  know  but  you  calculated  to 
lie  out  all  night." 

"Well,"  said  Jack,  "  I  didn't  know  but  I'd  have  to 
do  that;  but  I  didn't  want  to,  and  so  I  kept  going.  I 
think  perhaps  I  would  have  stopped  and  built  a  fire 
back  in  the  timber  if  it  hadn't  been  that  I  saw  your 
fire,  and  kept  coming." 

"  What  kept  you  ?  "  said  Joe. 

"  Why,  Joe,"  said  Jack,  "  I  saw  a  moose,  the  first 
moose  I  ever  saw ;  and  I  had  a  good  shot  at  it,  run- 
ning nearly  straight  away  from  me,  and  I  ought  to 
have  killed  it,  but  I  didn't.  I  think  I  must  have 
hit  it ;  anyhow,  I  thought  I  saw  it  flinch  when  I 
shot,  and  it  went  through  the  timber  in  great 
shape.  I  followed  the  tracks  quite  a  long  way;  but 
then  it  got  dark,  and  I  had  to  give  it  up  and  come 
back. 

"  I'd  like  to  go  out  and  look  for  it  to-morrow,  and 
I  will,  too,  if  we  stay  here." 

"Well,"  said  Hugh,  "we'll  stay  here,  all  right 
enough.  T  want  to  rest  up  this  horse's  foot  for  a  day 
or  two.  If  I  stay  here  and  bathe  that  horse's  foot, 
and  keep  him  quiet,  he's  likely  to  be  all  right  in  two  or 
three  days.  If  we  make  him  follow  us  over  these  hills 
now,  he  may  get  so  that  he  can't  use  the  foot  at  all. 


224  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

"  Pity   you  didn't  kill  your  moose,"  he  continued  ; 

"what  do  you  think  was  the  matter?" 

*'  I  don't  know,"  said  Jack.  "  I  had  as  good  a  chance 
as  I  ever  had  at  a  running  animal,  but  I  think  maybe 
I  wasn't  careful  enough,  and  didn't  hold  low  enough. 
I  wouldn't  be  a  bit  surprised  if  I  shot  high  on  him. 
That  seems  to  be  my  trouble  often." 

"Well,"  said  Hugh,  "you'd  like  to  go  to-morrow 
and  see  if  you  could  follow  him  up  and  find  him.  Of 
course  he  won't  be  good  for  anything  if  you  do  find 
him,  but  you'll  have  the  satisfaction  maybe  of  know- 
ing that  you  killed  him." 

"Won't  be  good  for  anything,"  said  Jack;  "how 
do  you  mean  ?  You  don't  mean  he'll  spoil,  just  lying 
out  for  one  night." 

"  Why,  son,  didn't  you  know  that?  Is  it  possible 
you've  travelled  with  me  all  these  months  and  haven't 
learned  that  unless  you  dress  an  animal  as  soon  as 
it's  killed  it's  going  to  spoil?  It  don't  make  any 
difference  whether  the  weather's  cold  or  warm,  but  if 
you  leave  a  critter  with  the  entrails  in  for  four  or  five 
hours  it  is  no  good  ;  the  meat  gets  tainted." 

"Well,"  said  Jack,  "That's  news  to  me.  I  never 
heard  that  before." 

"Oh,"  said  Joe,  "everybody  knows  that." 

"Yes,"  said  Jack,  "everybody  but  me." 

After  Jack  had  put  his  gun  in  the  lodge,  he  brought 
out  the  coffee  pot  and  frying  pan,  and  ate  some  food, 
and  then  sat  there  by  the  fire,  very  melancholy, 
because  he  had  not  got  his  moose. 

"  He  had  horns,  Hugh,"  Jack  said,  "and  if  I  should 
be  able  to  find  him  to-morrow,  I  could  bring  those  in, 
couldn't  I  ?  " 


JACK'S  FIRST  MOOSE  225 

"Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "the  horns  won't  be  spoiled. 
It's  only  that  the  meat  wouldn't  be  good  to  eat.  Were 
his  horns  big  ?" 

"No,"  said  Jack,  "  I  don't  think  they  were  very  big; 
they  stuck  out  on  both  sides.  You  see,  I  didn't  get 
much  of  a  look  at  him,  except  when  he  was  running 
away.  Then  I  could  see  his  horns,  but  I  wasn't  look- 
ing at  them  ;  I  was  trying  to  pick  out  the  place  to 
shoot,  and  I  didn't  pick  it  out  very  well." 

The  next  morning  Hugh  told  the  boys  that  they 
had  better  go  out  and  see  whether  they  could  find  the 
moose,  or  another  one,  but  warned  them  to  watch  the 
sky,  and  keep  their  direction,  so  that  they  would  be 
sure  to  get  back.  He  warned  them  also  to  notice 
carefully,  and  not  get  over  the  Divide.  So  long  as 
they  stayed  on  this  side,  the  streams  running  down 
toward  the  Sweetwater  would  always  help  them  to 
find  camp;  but  if  they  crossed  the  Divide  and  got 
Into  the  Wind  River  drainage,  then  the  streams  would 
only  confuse  them,  especially  as  the  timber  was  thick, 
and  the  sky  could  not  be  seen,  and  so  the  direction 
could  not  be  told  from  that.  Jack  did  not  attempt 
to  go  back  to  the  point  where  he  had  lost  the  moose 
tracks,  but  instead  kept  ofT  to  the  south,  in  order  to 
cross  the  tracks  again,  and  pick  them  up  where  they 
were  plain.  He  felt  sure  that  he  and  Joe  would  have 
no  trouble  in  following  them  up  to  the  point  where 
the  darkness  had  obliged  him  to  give  them  up. 

They  soon  found  the  tracks,  and  Jack,  from  his 
memory  of  the  country  passed  over  the  niglit  before, 
was  able  to  follow  them  quite  rapidly  to  the  place 
where  he  had    finally   left  them.       Beyond    here  the 


226  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

trail  was  not  hard  to  follow.  The  timber  was  thick  and 
the  ground  damp;  there  was  much  moss,  and  the  great 
hoofs  of  the  moose  tore  this  up,  so  that  the  trail  was 
plainly  visible  ;  and  here  Jack  had  the  first  confirma- 
tion of  his  belief  that  he  had  hit  the  moose,  for  Joe 
called  attention  to  a  bush  against  which  the  animal 
had  rubbed,  and  showed  on  it  a  little  smear  of  dried 
blood. 

By  this  time  the  moose  had  stopped  trotting  and 
was  walking;  and  after  a  while  they  saw  before  them 
lying  on  the  pale  soil,  among  the  tree-trunks,  a  dark 
object  stretched  out,  which  they  presently  recognized 
as  the  moose.  He  had  lain  down  here  and  died  as  he 
lay.  The  body  was  rigid  now  and  somewhat  swollen. 
Although  the  moose  was  not  a  large  one,  to  Jack  he 
seemed  enormous — much  taller,  longer,  and  deeper 
through  than  an  elk,  and  with  a  huge  ungainly  head 
and  a  swollen  upper  lip. 

"  Well,  Jack,"  said  Joe,  "what  are  you  going  to  do 
now?  You  killed  the  moose,  and  you  know  it,  but 
we  can't  take  any  of  the  meat.  You  might  come  up 
here  and  get  the  horns,  if  you  want  to  pack  them 
back  with  you,  but  it's  no  use  to  butcher  the  animal ; 
you  can  see  for  yourself  that  the  meat  is  spoiled." 

"  Yes,  "said  Jack,  "  I  suppose  it  is.  I'm  awfully  sorry ; 
I  hate  to  see  a  great  big  lot  of  meat  go  to  waste  like 
this,  but  there's  nothing  to  be  done  now.  I  ought  to 
have  shot  better."' 

"Well,  I'll  tell  you  what  let's  do,"  said  Joe:  "let's 
go  back  to  camp,  and  catcii  up  our  horses,  and  come 
up  here  and  get  those  horns.  In  fact  I  guess  we  may 
as  well  bring  a  pack  horse  with  us.     Horns  are  awful 


JACK'S  FIRST  MOOSE  227 

unhandy  things  to  carry  on  a  saddle,  but  we  can  put 
the  head  on  a  pack  so  that  it  will  ride  well." 

"Well,"  said  Jack,  "we  may  as  well  do  that,  I 
think,"  and  they  rose  to  go. 

"I'll  stick  a  knife  in  this  carcass,"  said  Joe,  "and  if 
I  do  that  it  will  be  pleasanter  to  work  about  when  we 
get  back." 

He  plunged  his  knife  into  the  animal's  side  and 
there  was  an  outburst  of  gas ;  then  the  two  boys 
went  back  to  the  camp. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

WATCHING  A  BEAR  BAIT 

"  Hello,  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  as  they  walked  up  to 
the  lodge  ;  "  we  found  the  moose." 

"  Well,  you've  done  pretty  well,"  said  Hugh.  **  I 
thought  maybe  he'd  go  so  far,  even  if  you'd  hurt  him 
bad,  that  you  wouldn't  find  him  at  all." 

"No,"  said  Jack,  "we  found  him  easily  enough. 
He  didn't  go  very  far  beyond  where  I  had  to  leave 
the  trail  last  night.  But  it  is  just  as  you  said  ;  the 
meat  is  spoiled  ;  he's  no  good  to  eat. 

"His  horns  are  not  very  big,  but  Joe  suggested  that 
we  should  come  back  here  and  get  our  horses  and  a 
pack  horse,  and  go  up  and  bring  in  the  head  and 
horns." 

"  Why,  sure,"  said  Hugh;  "  why  not  do  that?  I 
expect  you'd  like  to  take  it  home,  seeing  it's  the  first 
moose  you  ever  killed." 

"  Yes,"  said  Jack,  "  I  should  like  it." 

"  Now,  I'll  tell  you  what  you  do,"  said  Hugh.  "  Do 
you  remember  how  I  cut  off  that  sheep's  head  ?" 

"  Why,  yes,"  said  Jack,  "  I  remember  that  you  cut 
it  off  close  down  to  the  shoulders,  but  I  don't  remem- 
ber just  how  you  cut  the  skin." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  look  here  now  ;  I'll  show  you,** 
and  sitting  down  on  the  ground  he  drew  a  little 
diagram  with  the  stick,  explaining    to    Jack  that  he 


WATCHING  A  BEAR  BAIT  229 

should  stick  the  knife  into  the  moose's  head  imme- 
diately behind  the  horns,  split  the  skin  down  on  the 
nape  of  the  neck  to  the  shoulders,  then  make  a  cut 
at  right  angles  to  the  first  one,  running  down  outside 
of  one  shoulder,  across  under  the  chest,  and  up  out- 
side of  the  other  shoulder.  Then,  by  skinning  away 
from  the  top  of  the  neck,  the  hide  of  the  whole  neck 
could  be  drawn  forward  ;  the  head  cut  from  the  neck 
where  the  first  vertebrae  joins  the  skull;  and  after- 
ward, by  cutting  the  skin  from  where  the  neck-cut 
began  between  the  horns,  out  on  each  side  to  each 
horn  and  around  its  base,  the  whole  skin  of  head  and 
neck  could  be  taken  ofT,  and  the  skull  cleaned,  with 
the  horns  attached  to  it.  Afterwards  in  mounting,  the 
skin  could  again  be  stretched  over  the  skull,  so  that 
the  head  could  be  hung  on  the  wall. 

It  did  not  take  the  boys  long  to  saddle  up  their 
riding  horses  and  a  pack  animal,  and  when  they  were 
on  horseback  the  distance  to  the  moose  was  not  great. 
When  they  reached  it  they  tied  their  horses,  and 
walked  up  to  the  carcass  to  begin  the  skinning.  But 
before  they  did  anything,  Joe  said,  "  Hold  on.  Jack  ! 
look  a-here !  There's  been  a  bear  here  since  we've 
been  gone  ;  "  and  sure  enough,  the  tracks  of  a  middle- 
sized  bear  were  seen  about  the  carcass,  and  the  hole 
made  by  Joe's  knife  was  wet  around  the  edges,  as  if 
some  animal  had  been  licking  it.  Jack  looked  all 
around,  but  of  course  nothing  living  was  to  be  seen 
now. 

"Now,  I  tell  you  what,"  said  Joe;  "let's  get  this 
head  off,  and  go  away,  and  I  wouldn't  be  surprised  if 
we  could  come  back  here  to-morrow  and  get  a  shot  at 


230  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

a  bear.  You  know,  Hugh  said  we  weren't  going  to 
move  for  two  or  three  days,  and  if  that's  so,  why 
shouldn't  we  come  back  here  and  watch." 

*'  It  isn't  a  very  good  place  for  that,  is  it?"said  Jack, 
right  in  here  among  the  timber;  we'd  have  to  be  close 
to  the  moose,  and  likely  enough  a  bear  would  see  us 
or  smell  us,  before  we  could  see  it." 

"  That's  so,"  said  Joe  ;  "  it's  a  pretty  poor  place,  but 
before  we  go  we'll  look  around  and  see  if  we  can  find 
any  way  to  hide."  The  boys  were  somewhat  excited 
at  this  prospect,  and  at  once  set  to  work  to  skin  the 
moose  head.  A  long  slit  was  made  down  through 
the  thick  hair  on  the  nape  of  the  neck,  back  to  the 
shoulders,  and  then  a  cross  cut  down  to  the  moose's 
chest ;  then  both  the  boys,  getting  hold  of  the  head, 
tried  to  turn  it  over,  but  they  were  not  strong  enough 
to  do  that.  Then  they  tried  to  lift  the  moose's  head 
up  in  the  air,  in  order  to  get  under  it,  and  to  make 
the  cross  cut  on  the  other  side  close  to  the  ground. 
They  did  not  succeed  very  well  in  this  either;  but 
finally,  after  raising  the  head  as  high  as  they  could,  Joe 
got  a  stick  and  propped  it  in  this  position.  Then,  get- 
ting a  longer  stick  they  tugged,  strained,  and  kept  rais- 
ing the  head  higher  and  higher,  until  finally  the  fore 
part  of  the  shoulder  was  pretty  well  exposed.  They 
made  the  cross  cut,  but  for  six  or  eight  inches  it  was 
quite  ragged.  However,  they  succeeded  in  completing 
the  cut,  and  then  worked  more  rapidly,  and  before 
very  long  had  the  skin  off  the  whole  neck  and  turned 
so  far  toward  the  head  that  the  back  of  the  skull  could 
be  seen.  Then,  Joe  cutting  down  close  to  the  skull 
so  as  to  sever  the  ligament  of  the  neck,  they  twisted 


WATCHING  A  BEAR  BAIT  231 

the  skull,  disjointed  the  neck,  and  after  that  it  was 
a  mere  nnatter  of  cutting  through  the  flesh.  Aftef 
the  head  had  been  cut  off  it  was  pretty  heavy,  much 
more  than  one  boy  could  lift,  besides  being  unwieldy 
and  hard  to  handle. 

They  dragged  the  head  a  little  way  from  the  moose, 
and  then  stood  looking  at  it,  for  both  were  a  little 
tired. 

"Now,  look  here,  Jack,"  said  Joe,  "what's  the 
use  of  packing  all  this  stuff  back  to  camp;  why  not 
finish  the  job  here,  and  take  the  skull  back  pretty 
clean  ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  Jack,  "it's  a  pretty  long  job,  but  we've 
got  to  do  it  either  here  or  at  the  camp,  and  we  might 
as  well  do  it  here.  1  guess  we'd  better  use  our  jack- 
knives  to  cut  around  these  horns."  Sitting  down  on 
the  ground  they  did  the  work  of  making  the  cross- 
cut to  the  horns,  and  then  they  cut  round  the  horns, 
close  up  against  the  burr.  The  hide  was  thick  and 
tough,  and  the  blades  of  the  knives  were  small ;  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  knives  were  sharp,  and  before 
very  long  they  had  completed  this.  Then  they  both 
worked  at  skinning  the  hide  down  over  the  head,  cut- 
ting  through  the  gristle  of  the  ears,  and  going  very 
carefully  about  the  eyes  ;  and  at  last,  after  midday,  the 
skin  of  the  head  was  free  from  the  skull  and  was 
dragged  off  to  one  side. 

"There,"  said  Joe,  "that's  a  good  job,  and  now 
we'll  cut  off  all  the  meat  we  can  from  the  skull,  and 
pack  the  horse,  and  go  back  to  camp.  I'm  getting 
hungry.  I  don't  believe  this  tongue  is  spoiled  ;  we 
may  as  well  take  that  with  us."     The  remaining  work 


232  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

was  not  long,  and  lashing  the  skull  on  the  pack  saddle, 
they  set  out  for  camp. 

Hugh  hailed  them,  when  they  got  in,  with  an  ex- 
pression of  surprise,  saying,  "  Why,  you  done  the 
whole  job,  didn't  you  ?  I  supposed  I'd  have  an  after- 
noon's work  over  that  head,  skinning  it  out,  and  clean- 
ing the  skull." 

"Well,"  said  Jack,  "Joe  suggested  that  we  should 
not  make  two  bites  of  the  cherry,  so  we  did  the  work 
right  there.  But,  say  Hugh,  a  bear  had  been  'round 
that  moose,  between  the  time  we  left  it  and  the  time 
we  got  back,  and  Joe  says  maybe  we  can  get  a  shot  at 
him.     What  do  you  think?  " 

"Why,  I  don't  know,"  said  Hugh;  "maybe  you 
could.     What  sort  of  a  place  is  it  to  wait  ?  " 

"  Not  very  good,"  said  Jack ;  "  it's  ri<j;ht  in  the  thick 
timber,  and  there's  no  hill,  and  no  hiding-place  any- 
where nearby.  We  looked  when  we  were  coming 
away.  But  I  tell  you  what  I  think,  Hugh  ;  I  believe 
we  could  go  back  there,  and  get  up  into  a  tree,  and 
watch  from  there ;  then  the  bear  won't  be  likely  to 
smell  us,  and  maybe  we'll  be  able  to  get  a  good  shot." 

"Yes,  that's  so,"  said  Hugh  ;  "  but  there's  one  bad 
thing  about  getting  up  into  a  tree  :  it's  awful  noisy, 
and  if  you  move  much,  the  bear's  pretty  sure  to  hear 
you.     When  did  you  calculate  to  watch  ?" 

"Why,  I  don't  know,"  said  Jack;  "we  were  going 
to  ask  you.  It  ought  to  be  either  early  in  the  morn- 
ing or  late  in  the  evening,  I  suppose.  That's  the  time 
bears  come  out,  isn't  it?" 

"Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "that's  the  time;  but  in  here 
where  they're  not  much  hunted,  I  suppose  maybe 
they'd  feed  any  time  of  day. 


WATCHING  A  BEAR  BAIT  233 

"  I  tell  you  what  I  believe  I'd  do,"  he  continued, 
"  we're  going  to  stop  here  for  a  day  or  two  more  and 
see  if  that  horse's  foot  will  get  better,  and  suppose 
you  don't  do  anything  now  until  along  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  day  to-morrow;  then  you  can  ride  up  there 
and  see  if  the  bears  have  been  working  at  the  carcass, 
and  if  they  have,  why  you  can  wait  there  until  about 
dark,  and  if  you  don't  get  a  shot  you  can  go  back 
again  the  next  day,  right  early  in  the  morning." 

"Well,  let's  do  that  then,"  said  Jack. 

"Now,"  said  Hugh,  "take  your  moose-head  down 
to  the  creek  and  put  it  in  there  to  soak  and  drain,  and 
then  this  afternoon  you  can  take  the  brains  out  and 
sort  of  scrape  the  skull,  and  after  it  soaks  there  for  a 
couple  of  days  it'll  be  in  good  shape  to  dry  right  up." 

The  next  day,  a  little  before  noon,  they  set  out  to 
inspect  the  bait.  As  they  started  out  to  catch  their 
horses,  Hugh  told  them  to  drive  in  old  Baldy  as 
well,  and  that  he  would  ride  up  there  with  them  and 
see  how  the  prospect  looked. 

When  they  reached  the  moose  they  found  a  great 
hole  torn  in  its  side,  and  from  the  tracks  around  about, 
it  seemed  that  several  bears  had  been  feeding  there. 
The  day,  though  bright  at  sunrise,  had  now  become 
overcast  and  dull,  and  the  air  felt  like  rain  or  snow. 
Hugh  surveyed  the  ground  about  the  moose  with 
some  care,  and  finally  said  to  the  boys  : 

"  I  don't  see  anything  for  you  to  do  except  to 
climb  up  into  a  couple  of  these  trees  ;  and  if  I  were 
you  I'd  watch  this  afternoon,  and  if  you  don't  get  a 
shot,  quit  pretty  early,  at  least  before  it  gets  plumb 
dark,  come  back  to  camp,  and  then  try  it  again  early 


234  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

in  the  morning.  I'll  take  your  horses  down  here  a  half 
a  mile,  and  tie  them  in  that  little  open  park  that  we 
passed,  where  they  can  feed,  but  where  they'll  be  far 
enough  away  so  as  not  to  scare  the  game.  If  you  don't 
get  a  shot,  try  to  get  to  your  horses  before  it's  right 
dark,  and  then  you  can  get  back  to  camp  all  right." 

Hugh  waited  until  the  boj^s  had  climbed  the  two 
trees,  one  a  little  distance  to  the  north  of  the  moose, 
the  other  about  as  far  to  the  south  of  the  carcass. 
He  told  them  to  cut  away  all  the  twigs  that  were  close 
to  them  and  would  rustle  if  they  moved,  and  advised 
them  that  they  must  keep  absolutely  still,  "  for"  he 
said,  "  there  is  no  animal  so  shy  as  a  bear,  and  none 
that's  more  careful  in  coming  up  to  a  bait.  If  a  bear 
comes,  don't  try  to  shoot  at  it  too  soon,  let  it  come  on 
until  it  gets  right  close  to  you  ;  then  shoot  as  care» 
fully  as  you  know  how,  and  try  to  kill  it  dead,  for  I 
don't  want  you  to  wound  a  bear,  and  then  go  follow- 
ing  it  through  the  thick  timber  and  the  brush  ;  that's 
dangerous,  and  I  think  foolish." 

The  hours,  after  Hugh  departed,  seemed  pretty  long 
to  the  boys  as  they  sat  on  their  perches.  They  could 
not  see  each  other,  and  of  course  could  not  talk. 
Both  were  occupied  in  looking  over  the  ground  that 
they  could  cover  with  their  eyes,  and  in  listening  for 
any  noise.  The  weather  grew  colder,  and  toward  the 
middle  of  the  afternoon  flakes  of  snow  began  to  sift 
down  through  the  tree-tops.  Then  they  stopped  ; 
then  began  again.  There  was  snow  enough  to  see  as 
it  fell,  but  not  enough  to  show  upon  the  ground. 

Joe  was  glad  when  he  saw  the  snow,  for  he  believed 
it  would  bring  the  bears  out  soon  ;  but  Jack  did  not 


WATCHING  A  BEAR  BAIT  235 

know  this,  and  thought  only  of  the  discomfort  of  the 
cold.  A  little  breeze  was  blowing  from  the  south, 
and  that  gave  Joe  the  unpleasant  benefit  of  the  odor 
of  the  decaying  moose  meat ;  but  he  thought  little  of 
that,  and  sat  there  and  watched.  For  a  long  time 
nothing  was  seen.  Then  suddenly,  from  behind  a 
dead  log,  fifty  or  sixty  yards  from  Joe,  he  saw  the 
head  of  a  black  bear  rise,  and  the  animal  stood  there 
screwing  its  nose  in  all  directions  and  snuf^ng  the 
wind.  It  remained  there  for  a  long  time,  and  then 
the  head  drew  back  and  disappeared.  Joe's  rifle  was 
loaded  and  cocked.  He  had  fixed  himself  in  as  good 
a  position  as  possible  for  shooting,  and  he  waited. 
For  a  long  time  nothing  happened,  and  then  suddenly 
the  bear  appeared,  stepping  out  from  behind  a  tree 
quite  close  to  him, —  not  more  than  thirty  or  forty 
yards  away  —  and  stood  there,  looking  at  first  toward 
the  moose,  and  then  slowly  turning  its  head  and  looking 
in  all  directions.  It  was  a  black  bear,  not  very  large, 
and  yet  not  by  any  means  a  cub.  Joe  thought  the 
best  thing  he  could  do  was  to  shoot  it.  It  stood 
nearly  facing  him,  and  when  it  turned  its  head  away 
to  the  right,  he  aimed  for  its  chest,  just  to  the  right 
of  the  bear's  left  shoulder,  and  pulled  the  trigger. 
The  animal  gave  half  a  dozen  bounds,  and  then  com- 
menced to  jump  into  the  air  and  come  down  again, 
and  to  roll  over,  and  turn  somersaults;  while  Joe  kept 
his  eyes  rolling  in  all  directions,  to  see  whether  there 
were  any  others. 

The  bear's  position  had  been  such  that  Jack  had 
not  seen  it  at  all.  He  was  cramped  and  stiff,  cold, 
tired  and  hungry  by  this  time  ;  but  at  the  shot  he  for- 


236  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

got  all  his  discomforts,  and  sat  watching  to  see  what 
should  happen.  For  a  moment  he  saw  and  heard 
nothing,  and  then,  off  to  his  left,  he  heard  a  stick 
break,  once  or  twice,  as  if  some  heavy  animal  were 
stepping  on  it,  and  then  all  became  silent  again. 
Presently  Joe  appeared,  walking  by  the  moose,  and 
came  and  stood  under  the  tree  in  which  Jack  sat. 
"  Well,  Jack,"  he  said,  "  I've  got  a  bear,  and  I  don't 
suppose  any  more  will  come  now.  We  may  as  well 
go  over  and  skin  it,  and  go  back  to  camp." 

"  How  big  is  it,  Joe  ?  "  said  Jack. 

"  Well,"  said  Joe,  "  it's  small.  It  looked  pretty  big 
to  me  when  I  first  saw  it  looking  out  through  the 
trees ;  but  when  I  shot  it,  and  saw  it  lying  on  the 
ground,  it  didn't  seem  very  big." 

Jack  scrambled  down  from  the  tree,  and  the  two 
boys  went  over  to  the  bear.  It  was  not  large,  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  was  better  than  no  bear  at  all,  and 
its  coat  was  quite  good  :  not  long,  but  full,  and  black 
and  glossy,  and  quite  worth  having.  Jack  congratu- 
lated Joe,  and  they  set  to  work  to  skin  the  bear. 

Joe's  shot  had  been  a  good  one  ;  he  had  hit  exactly 
in  the  right  place,  and  the  ball  had  cut  the  great 
artery  of  the  heart,  and  the  lungs,  so  that  the  bear 
died  almost  at  once. 

The  work  of  skinning  the  animal  took  some  little 
time,  but  it  was  not  nearly  dark  when  Joe,  with  the 
skin  on  his  back,  and  Jack,  with  one  of  the  hams  in 
his  hand,  started  to  go  to  the  horses.  The  other  ham 
they  hung  up  in  a  tree.  The  horses  took  them 
speedily  to  the  camp,  and  they  greatly  enjoyed  their 
dinner  that  night.  Both  boys  were  tired  and  were 
glad  to  turn  in  at  an  early  hour. 


WATCHING  A  BEAR  BAIT  237 

The  next  day  the  whole  camp  arose  late.  Hugh 
reported  that  the  horse's  leg  was  better,  and  that  he 
thought  they  might  as  well  move  on  the  next  day. 
"  Now,"  he  said,  "  do  you  boys  want  to  go  up  and 
watch  fo»'  bear  again  to-night?" 

"I  don't  know,  Hugh,"  said  Jack;  "what  do  you 
think  the  chances  are  ?  Will  any  of  them  come  back 
after  one  being  killed  last  night?  " 

"Yes,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  think  maybe  they  might. 
Of  course  you  can't  tell.  Maybe  they  might  come 
back  now,  or  perhaps  they'll  leave  the  bait  alone  for 
three  or  four  nights,  and  then  come  back." 

"Well,"  said  Jack,  "  I'd  like  to  get  a  shot ;  but  it's 
paying  pretty  dear  for  it  to  have  to  sit  up  in  a  tree 
for  five  or  six  hours,  and  pretty  nearly  freeze  to 
death.  I  like  to  be  doing  something.  I  wouldn't 
mind  trailing  a  bear  or  a  deer  or  a  sheep  for  half  a 
day,  but  this  sitting  on  a  thin  branch  in  the  cold,  and 
waiting  for  a  bear  to  come  to  you,  isn't  what  it's 
cracked  up  to  be." 

"No,"  said  Hugh,  "you're  right  there.  I  don't 
think  much  of  it.  However,  we  might  get  on  our 
horses  about  mid-day,  and  go  up  and  see  whether  any 
bears  came  last  night  after  you  left.  The  carcass  '11 
show  that  plain  enough," 

When  they  looked  at  the  carcass  they  found  that  a 
number  of  bears  had  evidently  been  there  ;  and  not 
only  had  they  eaten  a  considerable  part  of  the  moose, 
but  they  had  also  partly  eaten  the  bear  that  Joe  had 
killed  the  night  before. 

"Well,"  said  Hugh,  "this  seems  to  be  a  regular 
bear  playground  !     I've  a  good  mind  to  come  up  here 


2^?>  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

myself  to-night,  and  sit  in  one  of  these  trees,  and  see 
if  I  can't  get  a  shot.  It's  quite  a  while  since  I've 
killed  a  bear,  and  I  sort  of  need  a  bear-skin  to  spread 
on  my  bed.  What  do  you  say  boys,  shall  we  all  watch 
here  to-night?  " 

"Yes,  Hugh,  let's  do  that ;  that'll  be  great  fun, —  to 
see  who  gets  the  shot,  or  whether  any  bears  come." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  *'  I'm  no  way  certain  they'll 
come  ;  they're  awful  keen-nosed,  and  if  they  should 
smell  that  we've  been  around  here  during  the  day, 
they  won't  show  themselves.  Now,  I'll  tell  you  what 
we  might  do  :  suppose  we  go  off  down  to  where  we're 
going  to  leave  the  horses,  and  stop  there  for  two  or 
three  hours, —  nothing  will  come  here  very  much  before 
sundown, —  and  then  about  three  o'clock  we'll  come  up 
here,  and  you  two  boys  can  ride  your  horses  right 
under  the  trees  you're  going  to  get  into,  and  just 
climb  into  them  without  touching  the  ground  at  all ; 
and  I'll  take  the  horses  back  and  come  up  afoot,  and 
get  up  into  my  tree.  In  that  way  there'll  be  only  one 
set   of  tracks  for  the  bears   to  smell." 

Accordingly,  about  three  o'clock  they  rode  back  ;  the 
boys  climbed  from  their  horses  directly  into  the  tree; 
and  then  Hugh,  taking  the  bridle  reins,  led  the 
horses  back  and  picketed  them  in  the  park.  Then 
he  returned,  and  choosing  a  tree  about  half  way 
between  the  boys,  clambered  up  into  it,  and  they  all 
sat  there,  patient  and  still. 

The  boys  watched  and  waited  as  carefully  as  the 
day  before  ;  but  nothing  happened  until,  just  before 
sundown,  tiie  heavy  report  of  Hugh's  gun  rang  out 
on  the  silent  air,  and  a  moment  later  they  heard  the 


WATCHING  A  BEAR  BAIT  239 

branches  crackle  as  he  clambered  down  from  the  tree. 
"All  right,  boys,"  he  called  out  ;  "come  along." 

The  boys  descended  from  their  branches,  and 
joining  Hugh,  they  all  went  forward  a  little  way,  to  a 
small  open  spot  where  a  brown  bear  lay  stretched  on 
the  ground,  with  the  blood  flowing  from  its  nostrils. 

"This  fellow,"  said  Hugh,  "has  been  fussing 'round 
in  sight  for  about  twenty  minutes.  He  wanted  to 
come  awful  bad,  and  yet  he  was  awful  scared  to.  I 
thought  one  time  that  maybe  he  was  going  around 
Jack's  way,  and  so  I  didn't  bother  with  him  ;  but  pres- 
ently he  came  back  and  commenced  to  go  right  toward 
the  bait,  making  little  runs  forward  and  then  little  runs 
backward,  but  always  getting  closer,  until  finally  I 
made  up  my  mind  that  I'd  have  to  kill  him.  Now, 
Joe,"  Hugh  continued,  "you  help  me  skin  him,  and, 
Jack,  you  go  and  fetch  the  horses." 

Not  long  after  Jack  had  returned,  the  skin  was  off 
the  bear,  rolled  up  and  tied  behind  Hugh's  saddle, 
and  they  returned  to  camp. 


CHAPTER  XX 

A   PUZZLING   TRAIL 

The  next  morning  Hugh  put  a  light  load  on  the 
lame  horse,  and  they  started  down  the  stream.  The 
going  was  fairly  good,  through  open  timber,  and  at 
last  they  came  to  what  Hugh  said  was  the  main  river, 
and  followed  that  down.  There  was  a  good  game 
trail  all  the  way,  and  they  went  pretty  fast,  but  Hugh 
stopped  early  because  he  did  not  want  to  tire  his 
cripple.  The  horse,  however,  was  in  good  heart  and 
fed  eagerly,  and  Hugh  said  that  it  was  all  right. 

For  several  days  their  journey  down  the  Sweet- 
water was  without  incident.  They  reached  the  open 
country,  where  there  were  many  antelope,  and  saw 
two  or  three  bunches  of  elk.  Several  times  Jack 
tried  fishing  in  the  river,  but  without  success,  as  Hugh 
had  prophesied,  saying:  "You  won't  find  any  trout  in 
this  stream,  nor  in  any  other  stream  that  runs  into  the 
North  Platte,  without  they've  been  put  there.  There's 
lot's  of  trout  in  the  South  Platte,  and  just  as  soon  as 
you  strike  the  tiny  little  creeks  that  run  from  springs 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Divide  you  can  catch  from 
them  all  the  small  trout  you  want;  but  there  are  none 
in  the  North  Platte." 

"  But  why  is  tliat  ?  "  said  Jack. 

♦•You  can't  prove  it  by  me,"  said  Hugh.  "  I  don't 
know.  I've  heard  tell  that  the  trout  in  all  the  streams 
on   this  side  of  the   mountains  come  from    the  other 


A  PUZZLING   TRAIL  241 

side; — that  is,  that  they  really  belong  on  the  west 
slope,  but  that  somehow  they  got  over  on  this  side. 
Now,  you  take  a  place  like  Two  Ocean  Pass,  that  we 
heard  about  up  in  the  Park,  and  other  places  that  I 
have  seen  like  that,  where  there's  a  low  place  on  the 
Divide, — a  place  that  often  holds  water,  and  from  each 
end  of  which  a  little  creek  runs  down,  one  going  east, 
the  other  west.  If  the  trout  ran  up  the  creek  that 
goes  west  into  this  little  pond  on  the  Divide,  why  it 
might  easy  enough  be  that  some  of  them  would  run 
down  the  creek  that  runs  east.  Anyhow,  it's  a  sure 
thing  that  there  are  no  trout  in  any  of  the  North 
Platte  waters  that  I  ever  saw,  while  in  the  South 
Platte,  and  in  the  Wind  River,  and  the  Bighorn,  and 
the  Yellowstone,  and  pretty  much  all  the  streams  to 
the  north,  there  are  lots  of  trout.  It  always  seemed 
queer  to  me  that  the  North  Platte  don't  have  any." 

One  night  in  camp,  as  they  were  sitting  around  the 
fire  after  supper.  Jack  said,  "  Hugh,  tell  me  a  bear 
story.  We've  seen  a  lot  of  bears  this  trip  and  killed 
quite  a  lot.  Were  you  ever  badly  scared  by  a  bear? 
Of  course  that  old  bear  charged  us  the  other  day,  but 
I  don't  suppose  you  were  scared  by  it,  and  I  wasn't; 
but  I'd  like  to  know  if  you  were  ever  really  scared  by 
a  bear." 

"  Well,''  said  Hugh,  "  I  reckon  I  have  been.  I 
remember  one  time  that  a  bear  made  me  run  pretty 
lively  for  a  ways." 

*'  How  was  it?"  said  Jack. 

"Well,"  said  Hugh,  "it  wasn't  so  very  long  ago, 
and  I  was  up  on  the  mountains  back  of  the  ranch  try- 
ing to  kill  some  meat.     I  had  left  my  horse   and  gone 


242  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

quite  a  way  without  seeing  anything,  when  I  came 
over  a  ridge  and  looked  down  into  a  piece  of  timber. 
About  a  hundred  yards  off,  lying  at  the  foot  of  two  or 
three  trees,  just  in  the  edge  of  the  timber,  I  saw  a 
kind  of  a  black  pile,  and  for  a  little  while  I  could  not 
make  out  what  it  was.  I  stopped  and  looked,  and 
presently  a  part  of  the  pile  got  up,  and  a  bear  began 
to  walk  around,  and  then  another,  and  then  a  third 
got  up,  and  they  all  walked  around  the  others  that 
were  lying  there,  and  looked  as  if  they  were  snarling 
and  wanted  to  fight.  I  saw  in  a  minute  that  there 
were  too  many  bears  for  me  to  tackle  and  was  just 
about  to  back  off  over  the  hill  and  clear  out,  when  one 
of  them  saw  me  and  started  running  toward  me  as 
hard  as  he  could.  I  knew  then  it  was  no  use  to  run, 
and  I  sort  of  braced  myself,  and  got  a  half  a  dozen 
cartridges  in  my  hand,  and  waited  until  the  bear  got 
up  within  fifteen  or  twenty  steps  of  me,  and  then  fired 
at  it,  and  turned  and  ran  as  hard  as  I  could.  I  didn't 
hear  anything  following  me,  and  presently  looked 
over  my  shoulder,  and  saw  that  there  was  nothing  in 
sight ;  but  I  kept  on  running  until  I  got  out  of  wind, 
and  then  I  went  to  my  horse  as  quickly  as  I  could. 
When  I  had  mounted  I  went  back,  went  round  a  little 
way,  and  rode  up  over  the  hill  in  another  place  and 
looked  down,  and  there  was  nothing  alive  in  sight. 
I  went  pretty  carefully  along  the  ridge  until  I  got  to 
the  place  where  I  had  stood,  and  then  I  went  down  tc 
where  the  bear  had  been  when  I  shot.  There  way 
plenty  of  blood  there,  but  that  was  all.  Then  I  went 
down  to  the  tree  and  found  that  these  bears  —  and 
there  must  have  been  a  half-dozen  of  them  — had  dug 


A  PUZZLING  TRAIL  243 

down  into  the  ground  under  the  trees  and  had  been 
lying  tliere,  as  a  dog  sometimes  digs  in  the  dirt  and 
lies  there  to  get  cool. 

"  The  bears  had  started  off  together,  but  it  was  hard 
to  tell  just  what  they  had  done.  I  followed  them  for 
quite  a  way,  and  some  of  them  must  have  left  the 
bunch,  for  when  I  got  to  a  big  snow-drift  —  it  was 
toward  the  end  of  June,  and  there  were  plenty  of  big 
drifts  that  hadn't  melted  yet  —  there  were  only  three 
of  the  bears  together.  The  snow-drift  was  hard,  and 
I  walked  along  over  it,  leading  my  horse  and  following 
the  tracks.  The  horse  hardly  sank  in  at  all,  and  my 
feet  made  no  impression  on  the  snow;  but  the  big 
bear, — the  one  that  was  bleeding, — sank  in  about  six  or 
eight  inches  every  step,  while  the  two  others  only  sank 
in  a  half  an  inch.  That  must  have  been  a  big  one.  I 
followed  them  into  the  timber,  and  finally  they  went 
into  a  place  where  the  spruces  grew  low  and  so  thick 
that  you  could  not  see  through  them,  and  there  I  gave 
up  the  trail.  I  didn't  want  that  bear  bad  enough  to 
follow  him  into  that  place." 

**  Well,  of  course  you  never  knew  anything  more 
about  it  than  you  do  now,"  said  Jack. 

•  "  No,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  never  knew  anything  about  it 
except  what  I  learned  from  following  the  trail.  The 
bear  was  hit  somewhere  in  the  breast  or  neck  or  head  ; 
he  was  bleeding  from  the  front  part  of  the  body ;  and 
I  expect  the  bullet  must  have  knocked  him  down,  or 
else  he  would  have  followed  me  and  likely  caught  me. 
But  it  was  about  the  longest  and  fastest  run  that  I've 
made  in  many  a  year." 

For  some  days  they  travelled  down  the  Sweetwater, 


244  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

having  an  open  easy  road  and  making  good  progress. 
They  passed  the  cafion  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  where 
it  enters  into  the  Platte,  and  now  felt  that  they  were 
getting  near  home. 

One  morning  as  they  were  riding  along,  Jack  noticed 
the  trail  of  a  big  bunch  of  horses,  driven  fast,  going 
the  opposite  way  from  themselves  and  turning  off  into 
the  hills  to  the  north.  He  asked  Hugh  who  would 
be  driving  a  bunch  of  horses  through  that  country, 
and  where  they  were  going;  but  Hugh  could  not  tell 
him. 

"  I  don't  know  anybody,  son,"  he  said,  "  who  would 
be  taking  horses  through  here,  and  I  don't  know  where 
they'd  be  taking  them  to,  without  it's  up  to  some  small 
town  north,  or  up  to  the  new  railroad,  and  then  I 
don't  see  why  they  should  be  coming  this  way,  unless 
perhaps  they  wanted  to  get  over  on  Powder  River 
and  follow  that  down.  The  railroad,  I  hear,  is  push- 
ing west  from  the  Missouri,  and  it  may  be  that  some 
contractor  came  down  here  to  get  horses.  And  yet 
that  don't  seem  right  either.  These  are  not  work 
horses, —  you  can  see  that  from  their  tracks, —  and 
besides  that  there  are  lots  of  colts  with  them.  If  it 
was  a  few  years  back,  I  should  think  that  a  bunch  of 
Indians  had  gone  through ;  but  then  there  are  no 
travois  trails,  and  I  don't  know  what  it  is.  Might  be 
horse  thieves  ;  it's  been  so  tlie  last  few  years  that  peo- 
ple are  stealing  stock  some." 

The  trail  came  from  down  the  river,  and  they  had 
followed  it  for  some  miles  when  a  dark  spot  seen  on 
the  bottom  showed  a  large  animal  lying  down.  Hugh 
rode  over  and  found  it  to  be  a  dead  horse.   He  waved  to 


A  PUZZLING  TRAIL  245 

the  boys,  who  followed  him,  and  they  sat  there  on 
their  horses,  looking  down  at  it.  The  animal  had  been 
dead  perhaps  a  day  ;  it  lay  on  its  side,  and  the  brand 
was  plainly  visible.  As  Jack  looked  at  the  brand  he 
recognized  it  as  his  uncle's,  and  he  looked  at  Hugh  in 
perplexity  to  see  what  this  could  mean.  For  a  time 
Hugh  said  nothing,  and  then  getting  down  from  his 
horse,  he  looked  more  closely  at  the  brand,  and  then, 
remounting,  said  to  the  boys,  "  We'll  camp  right  here; 
over  in  that  bunch  of  timber.'' 

It  was  but  little  after  mid-day,  and  Jack  knew  that 
something  important  must  have  happened,  but  he 
asked  no  questions,  waiting  for  Hugh  to  speak. 
After  they  had  unsaddled,  and  put  up  the  lodge,  Hugh 
told  the  boys  to  picket  the  three  riding  horses  while 
he  got  dinner.  Jack  had  told  Joe  about  the  brand, 
and  both  boys  were  a  gool  deal  excited,  wondering 
what  was  coming  next. 

After  they  had  eaten,  Hugh  filled  his  pipe  and  said: 
*'  Now  boys,  I  don't  know  what  all  this  means,  but  to 
me  it  looks  as  if  a  gang  of  horse  thieves  had  been 
riding  our  range  and  had  driven  off  a  bunch  of  horses, 
and  among  them  some  of  ours. 

"  I  know  that  three-year-old  filly  lying  over  there 
perfectly  well.  She  had  her  first  colt  this  spring.  It 
looks  to  me  as  if  she  had  been  run  so  hard  that  it 
killed  her.  Maybe  she  got  a  chance  to  fill  herself  up 
with  water,  somewhere  back.  But  anyhow,  there  she 
is,  and  she  came  from  the  ranch,  and  what  is  more,  she 
never  was  sold  to  anybody.  She's  been  driven  here,  and 
driven  so  hard  that  it  killed  her.  Now  I  am  going  to 
find  out,  if  I  can,  what  this  means.     I  am  going  to  see  if 


246  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

I  can  find  this  bunch  of  horses,  and  see  whose  they  are, 
and  who  has  got  them.  If  they,  or  any  part  of  them, 
belong  to  us,  or  came  from  our  country,  why  we'll  get 
them  back  if  we  can.  Of  course  if  we  can't  get  them 
back,  why  they've  got  to  go  on.  I  don't  think  there 
are  enough  horses  in  Wyoming  to  pay  for  the  life  of 
either  of  you  two  boys ;  but  if  these  horses  have  been 
stolen  I  reckon  we  can  get  them  back,  and  I  am 
mighty  sure  we'll  try, 

"  Now,  presently,  as  soon  as  the  horses  have  eaten, 
I  am  going  off  on  the  trail  of  this  bunch.  I  want  you 
boys  to  stop  right  here  until  I  come  back,  and  if  I 
should  not  come  back  in  the  course  of  three  days,  I 
want  you  to  go  to  the  ranch  and  tell  them  what  you've 
seen.  It  will  be  no  trouble  to  get  back  home.  You'll 
know  when  you  get  to  Casper  or  to  Fetterman,  and 
you  can  cross  the  river  most  anywhere  there,  and  then 
it's  pretty  nearly  a  straight  shoot  south.  You  and  me 
have  ridden  enough  around  the  country,  Jack,  so  that 
you  know  the  principal  hills,  and  I'm  sure  you'll  know 
Rattlesnake  Mountain  when  you  see  it.  You  know 
where  the  ranch  lies  from  there.  You've  got  plenty 
of  grub,  and  it's  only  a  little  more  than  two  days  hard 
ride  to  get  home. 

"  But  I  expect  that  you'll  see  me  back  here  about 
day  after  to-morrow,  in  the  morning,  and  then  I'll 
have  something  to  tell  you  : — either  that  I  haven't 
found  the  stock,  or  else  that  I  have  :  and  what  it  is; 
and  who  it  belongs  to. 

"  Now,  I  want  some  grub — just  some  of  that  dried 
meat.  I  won't  have  a  chance  to  kindle  a  fire  while 
I'm  gone,  and   I've   got  to  ride  pretty  fast   and  can't 


A  PUZZLING  TRAIL  247 

carry  invich.  One  thing  I  must  have  though,  and  that 
is  your  glasses,  son." 

Jack  rose  and  went  into  the  lodge  and  brought  out 
his  glasses  and  gave  them  to  Hugh,  who  opened  them, 
looked  at  the  clasp  of  the  case,  and  then,  shutting  it 
and  seeing  that  the  spring  was  in  good  order,  tied  a 
buckskin  string  around  it.  As  the  sun  fell  toward  the 
west  he  sent  one  of  the  boys  to  bring  in  a  horse  and 
said  to  him,  "  Let  old  Baldy  stay  out  there,  and  fetch 
the  dun  ;  he's  stronger,  and  fatter,  and  tougher  than 
any  of  the  rest. 

"  Now,  boys,"  he  said,  after  he  had  mounted,  "  this 
next  two  or  three  days  will  be  business  ;  you  want  to 
forget  you're  boys,  and  think  that  we  may  have  to  do 
something  pretty  hard  and  pretty  active  before  long. 
Don't  go  off  hunting  ;  don't  neglect  your  horses  ;  stay 
'round  camp,  and  keep  a  good  lookout  during  the  day* 
time.  If  you  see  anybody  coming,  get  your  horses 
in  close  and  tie  them  among  the  trees.  Keep  your 
riding  horses  on  picket  all  the  time,  and  at  night  keep 
them  pretty  close  to  the  lodge."     Then  he  rode  off. 

"  Well,"  said  Jack,  as  Hugh's  form  grew  smaller  and 
smaller  in  the  distance,  "  what  do  you  suppose  this 
means,  Joe  ? '' 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Joe,  "  except  what  Hugh  said. 
If  he  finds  these  horses  belong  to  your  uncle,  why  1 
expect  maybe  he'll  come  back,  and  we'll  have  to  go 
up  there  and  kill  the  man  that  stole  them,  and  take 
them  back." 

"  Oh,  nonsense,  Joe,  Hugh  didn't  mean  anything 
like  that.  Don't  you  know,  he  said  there  weren't 
horses  enough  in  Wyoming  to  pay  for  our  lives  ?  That 
means  that  there  isn't  going  to  be  any  fighting." 


248  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

"  Well,"  said  Joe,  "  maybe  then  if  he  finds  they're 
your  horses,  we'll  have  to  go  up  there  and  steal  them, 
and  take  them  back  that  way." 

Jack  slapped  his  thigh  with  his  hand,  as  he  said, 
"That  would  be  bully,  wouldn't  it?  It  would  be  real 
fun  to  steal  horses,  and  have  all  the  excitement  of  it, 
and  yet  know  that  you  were  not  doing  any  harm, 
only  getting-  back  your  own. 

"  Well,  anyway,"  he  continued,  "we've  got  to  look 
out  mighty  sharp  for  things,  for  whatever  Hugh  said 
has  got  to  be  done.  I  remember  one  time  when  I 
failed  to  do  as  he  told  me,  and  I  got  the  worst  scare 
that  I  ever  had  in  all  my  life.  That  was  the  time 
when  Hezekiah  and  young  Bear  Chief  caught  me  in 
swimming."  Joe  grinned  appreciatively,  as  he  said, 
"  I  heard  about  that  a  good  many  times." 

"  I  suppose  you  have,"  said  Jack  ;  "  that's  always 
been  a  good  joke  on  me." 


CHAPTER   XXI 

HUGH   GOES  "  ON   DISCOVERY  " 

Meantime,  Hugh  was  loping  fast  up  the  bottom 
of  the  Platte,  on  the  trail  of  the  horses.  It  seemed 
to  him  to  have  been  made  the  day  before  ;  and  this 
would  agree  very  well  with  tiie  length  of  time  that 
the  mare  bearing  Mr.  Sturgis'  brand  seemed  to  have 
been  dead.  It  was  not  easy  to  tell,  cut  here  in  the 
open  under  the  hot  sun  and  in  the  dry  wind,  just 
when  the  tracks  had  been  made. 

An  hour  or  two  of  hard,  fast  riding  brought  him  to 
the  point  where  he  had  come  upon  the  trail  that 
morning,  and  he  could  see,  looking  ahead,  that  here  it 
turned  off  and  struck  in  toward  the  hills,  apparently 
to  go  up  one  of  two  valleys.  There  was  water  in 
both, — not  much  down  here  on  the  dry  bottom,  but 
further  back  in  the  hills  and  among  the  timber  he  knew 
that  these  streams  were  running  brooks,  and  that  on 
both  there  were  wide  grassy  meadows  and  places  very 
likely  to  be  chosen  by  people  driving  a  bunch  of  horses, 
in  which  to  stop  and  let  them  feed  and  rest.  If  he  had 
been  following  Indians  who  had  driven  off  a  band  of 
horses  that  they  had  stolen  from  an  Indian  camp,  he 
would  have  gone  carefully,  for  Indians  would  have 
left  behind  scouts  who,  from  the  top  of  some  high 
hill,  would  have  watched  the  back  trail  for  at  least  a 
lew  hours ;  but  he  did  not  think  that  white  men  would 


i250  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

do  this.  He  had  reason  to  think  that  if  these  were 
rustlers — hoist  thieves  —  they  had  gone  over  the 
range  after  the  horse  round-up  was  over,  and  gather- 
ing  these  horses,  had  driven  them  slowly,  perhaps  by 
night,  until  they  had  got  beyond  the  last  ranch,  and 
then  had  hurried  them  along,  hoping  to  get  them  out 
of  the  country  without  observation. 

On  the  other  hand,  these  might  not  be  horse  thieves, 
but  might  be  people  who  were  driving  their  own  stock 
in  a  legitimate  way,  for  some  purpose  of  their  own  ; 
but  he  could  not  understand  how  this  should  be,  and 
the  presence  in  the  bunch  of  an  animal  with  Mr. 
Sturgis'  brand  made  him  feel  that  he  must  investigate. 

The  trail  led  toward  the  westernmost  of  the  two 
valleys,  and  Hugh  followed  it.  The  sun  was  almost 
down  when  he  got  well  into  the  valley,  but  he  could 
see  that  the  horses  were  still  going  fast,  and  he  hurried 
the  dun  along,  for  he  was  anxious  if  possible  to  find 
the  herd  that  night.  It  grew  dark  rapidly,  but  still 
he  rode  on,  galloping  fast  over  the  grassy  bottom, 
and  going  more  slowly  only  when  he  came  to  the 
crossings  of  streams,  or  to  rocky  ground,  where  his 
horse's  hoofs  made  some  noise.  Of  course  the  dun, 
like  all  the  otlier  horses,  was  unshod,  so  that  there  was 
no  clink  of  iron  against  stone,  to  be  heard  at  a  dis- 
tance. 

After  he  had  ridden  for  three  or  four  hours  in  the 
dark,  he  stopped,  took  off  his  saddle  and  bridle,  and 
holding  the  rope  which  was  about  the  dun's  neck  in 
his  hand,  let  the  animal  walk  about.  It  took  a  few 
bites  of  grass,  and  then  lay  down  and  rolled  three  or 
four  times,  and  then  getting   up,  shook  itself.     Then 


HUGH  GOES  "ON  DISCOVERY"       251 

Hugh  put  the  saddle  on,  re-mounted,  and  went  forward. 
All  the  time  he  was  looking  and  listening  as  hard  as 
he  could.  He  had  gone  but  a  little  distance  beyond 
this  place,  when  suddenly  he  heard  the  whinney  of  a 
little  colt,  and  stopped. 

Taking  his  horse  by  the  bridle  he  walked  forward, 
and  before  he  had  gone  very  far  saw  a  horse  standing 
near  him,  and  then  another,  and  presently  a  number 
of  horses,  and  knew  that  he  was  in  the  midst  of  the 
bunch.  He  took  a  long  look  on  every  side.  The 
valley  here  was  wide,  but  on  either  side  he  could  see 
the  black  mountains  rising,  and  he  did  not  know  just 
how  far  the  timber  came  down  into  the  valley.  Now 
he  wanted  to  find  where  the  camp  was,  and  mounting 
his  horse  he  took  a  long  look  up  and  down  the  stream 
on  both  sides,  and  there  on  his  right,  and  not  far  off, 
he  detected  what  he  thought  was  the  glow  of  a  fire. 

Passing  on  north,  until  he  had  gone  well  above  the 
place  where  he  supposed  the  camp  must  be,  he  tied 
his  horse  to  a  little  bush,  and  then  walking  over  to  the 
edge  of  the  valley,  close  to  the  stream,  he  silently  drew 
nearer  to  the  camp.  Before  long  he  was  close  enough 
to  see  the  dim  light  of  the  fire,  and  knew  that  some 
where  near  it  must  be  lying  the  men  who  had  the 
horses  in  charge.  This  was  enough  for  him.  He 
went  back,  got  his  horse,  and  going  further  up  the 
stream,  crossed  it,  and  finding  an  open  place  sat  down, 
holding  his  horse's  rope  in  his  hand  until  the  animal 
had  eaten  its  fill.  Then,  still  on  foot,  he  climbed  the 
mountain,  tied  up  his  horse  in  a  thick  bunch  of  brush 
where  it  could  not  be  seen,  took  off  the  saddle,  and 
after  eating  some  dried  meat,  went  along  the  mountain 


252  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

side  back  to  a  point  opposite  the  camp,  and  finding  a 
smooth  place,  lay  down,  wrapped  himself  in  his  saddle 
blanket,  and  went  to  sleep. 

It  was  still  dark  when  he  awoke,  but  he  sat  up, 
stretched  himself,  and  involuntarily  felt  in  his  pocket 
for  his  pipe,  and  then  smiled  a  little  as  he  recollected 
that  now  he  could  not  smoke.  He  folded  his  blanket, 
and  laid  it  behind  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  and  then  very 
slowly  began  to  make  his  way  down  the  mountain 
side  toward  the  camp.  Before  he  had  gone  far,  he 
began  to  hear  the  calls  of  early  waking  birds,  and  to 
be  conscious  that  in  the  little  patches  of  sky  that  he 
saw  from  time  to  time  the  stars  were  growing  paler. 
He  went  very  slowly  and  carefully,  feeling  his  way 
with  hands  and  feet,  never  brushing  against  the 
branch  of  a  tree,  or  stepping  on  a  stick  which  might 
crack.  The  men  in  the  camp  below  were  probably 
fast  asleep  and  would  not  notice  the  sounds  that  he 
might  make,  but  the  matter  was  too  important  for 
him  to  run  any  risks.  After  a  time  it  grew  lighter, 
and  presently  he  could  hear  below  him  the  rattle  of 
the  water  as  it  flowed  over  the  stones ;  and  as  it  grew 
more  and  more  light,  the  dim  shadows  of  the  horses 
in  the  open,  and  the  dark  outlines  of  the  bushes  on 
the  stream  were  seen.  The  mountain  side  just  over 
the  camp  was  steep  and  thickly  clothed  with  spruces, 
most  of  them  of  large  size,  but  with  many  small  ones 
growing  among  them.  If  he  had  himself  chosen  a 
place  for  these  men  to  camp,  he  could  not  have 
selected  one  that  would  have  been  better  suited  to 
his  purpose.  As  the  light  grew  stronger,  he  worked 
down  closer  and  closer  to  the  camp,  until  he  was  as 


HUGH  GOES  "ON  DISCOVERY"       253 

near  it  as  he  dared  go.  Then  he  began  to  look  about 
for  a  place  from  which  he  could  see  it,  for  first  of  all 
he  wished  to  discover  who  the  men  were  who  had  the 
horses.  It  might  be  that  this  would  at  once  explain 
the  whole  matter. 

After  a  little  manceuvering  he  found  a  place  where, 
through  the  thin  branches  of  a  young  spruce,  he  could 
look  directly  down  into  the  camp.  There  were  the 
ashes  of  a  fire,  and  not  far  from  it,  on  the  smooth  dry 
grass,  were  three  piles,  two  of  them  covered  with 
canvas  such  as  cow  punchers  commonly  use  to  wrap 
their  beds  in,  and  the  other  with  a  gray  blanket.  He 
knew  that  he  might  now  have  to  wait  a  long  time,  and 
was  prepared  to  exercise  patience.  He  had  set  his 
gun  on  the  hillside,  against  a  tree,  where  it  would  not 
fall  down,  and  at  the  same  time  would  be  in  easy 
reach  of  his  hand  if  he  should  need  it. 

He  sat  there  for  an  hour,  occasionally  looking  at  the 
sleeping  men,  but  for  the  most  part  studying  through 
the  glasses  the  horses  that  fed  not  far  from  him. 

After  the  light  grew  strong  but  a  glance  was  needed 
to  see  that  this  was  not  a  bunch  of  work  horses,  but 
was  range  stock,  picked  up  anywhere.  He  could  see 
the  fresh  brands  on  colts  and  yearlings,  and  could 
recognize  some  of  them  without  his  glasses.  Through 
the  glasses  these  fresh  brands,  many  of  which  had  as 
yet  scarcely  begun  to  peel,  stood  out  very  plainly,  and 
in  many  cases  the  old  brand  could  readily  be  dis- 
tinguished. Besides  this,  there  were  many  horses 
which  he  perfectly  well  knew,  without  seeing  the 
brands, — animals  that  he  recognized  as  occupying  the 
range  which  he  was    accustomed    to   ride    over.     He 


254  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

chuckled  to  himself  as  he  saw  these,  and  thought, 
**  My,  my,  wouldn't  Mr.  Sturgis  and  Powell  and  Joe 
be  hot  if  they  were  here ;"  and  then  he  thought,"  I 
wish  they  were  here,  for  if  they  were  we  could  take  in 
these  three  fellows  mighty  easy." 

From  what  he  had  already  seen  Hugh  had  made 
up  his  mind  that  this  was  a  bunch  of  horses  stolen 
from  the  range  about  the  Swiftwater  ranch,  but  he 
wished  to  wait  a  little  longer  in  order  to  be  sure  who 
the  men  were  who  had  them. 

After  a  while,  one  of  the  heaps  that  he  was  looking 
down  upon  stirred,  and  a  few  moments  later  the 
covering  was  thrown  off,  and  a  man  sat  up. 

He  rubbed  his  eyes  sleepily,  and  stretched  and 
yawned,  and  finally  put  his  hand  under  the  edge  of  his 
blanket,  pulled  out  his  shoes,  and  then  put  them  on 
and  stood  up.  Hugh  chuckled  as  he  recognized  Red 
McClusky,  a  man  whom  he  well  knew  as  living  along 
the  railroad.  He  was  a  cowboy  who  had  come  up 
from  Texas  and  had  worked  at  odd  times  on  the 
range,  but  who  spent  most  of  his  time  in  the  town, 
consuming  bad  whiskey  and  occasionally  disappeared 
for  a  few  weeks,  and  then  turned  up  again. 

McClusky  filled  his  pipe  and  lighted  it,  and  then 
going  over  to  the  fireplace,  began  to  kindle  a  fire,  at 
the  same  time  calling  out,  "  Here,  get  up,  you  lazy 
cusses ;  the  sun's  high,  and  we  want  to  get  break- 
fast." Soon  after  this  the  other  two  men  sat  up. 
One  of  them  was  Black  Jack  Dowling,  another  bad 
character  along  the  railroad,  well  known  to  Hugh  ; 
but  the  third  was  a  boy  or  young  man,  whom  Hugh 
did  not  know,  with  a  pleasant  but  rather  weak  face, 


HUGH  GOES  "ON  DISCOVERY"       255 

who  seemed  a  little  bit  afraid  of  both  his  compan- 
ions. 

Dowling  seemed  in  rather  bad  temper,  and  as  he 
walked  toward  the  creek  growled  at  McClusky,  ask- 
ing him  why  he  hadn't  let  them  sleep  longer.  "  We've 
had  an  awful  hard  ride,"  he  said,  "and  I  feel  as  if  I 
could  sleep  all  day,  and  all  to-morrow  too." 

"  Pshaw,"  said  McClusky,  "  that's  no  ride;  if  you're 
goin'  to  let  a  little  pleasure  gallop  like  that  tire  you 
out,  you'd  better  stick  to  holding  up  trains.  I  feel  as 
fresh  to-day  as  if  I  hadn't  been  in  the  saddle  for  a 
week;  don't  you,  Pete?"  he  laughed,  speaking  to  the 
young  man. 

"  Yes,"  said  Pete,  "  that  wasn't  no  ride.  I  guess 
Jack  here  aint  much  used  to  the  saddle." 

Dowling  snarled  out  "  Used  to  the  saddle  or  not, 
you  don't  stir  me  out  of  this  for  two  days  more." 

"Well,"  said  McClusky,  "it  don't  make  much 
difference  when  we  go  on,  but  I  want  to  get  these 
horses  up  north  before  snow  comes,  and  we've  got 
quite  a  ways  to  go.  We  ought  to  leave  here  to- 
morrow, sure  ;  anyhow,  the  day  after  to-morrow." 

The  fire  was  now  burning,  and  operations  for  break- 
fast went  on.  The  coffee-pot  and  frying  pan  were 
brought  out  from  beneath  the  willows ;  Pete  brought 
some  water,  and  McClusky  cooked,  while  the  other 
two  sat  by  the  fire  and  smoked.  Hugh  had  now  seen 
enough,  and  began  very  slowly  to  work  his  way 
up  the  mountain.  It  was  not  long  before  he  was  out 
of  sight  and  hearing  of  the  camp,  and  taking  up  his 
blanket  on  the  way,  he  went  on  up  the  stream. 
Gradually  descending  the  hill,  he  at  length  reached 
the  valley's  If^vel.  and  spent  some  time  in  the  willow 


256  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

and  alder  bushes,  studying  the  horses  that  were  within 
sight.  As  nearly  as  he  could  figure,  there  were  about 
a  hundred  head  of  horses,  and  most  of  them  seemed 
pretty  tired.  After  feeding  for  some  time,  they  lay 
down  and  were  seen  resting  all  over  the  meadow. 

Returning  to  his  horse,  he  led  him  for  a  long  dis- 
tance up  the  stream,  to  a  point  where  the  timber  on 
both  sides  reached  out  well  into  the  valley,  and  here 
crossing  a  little  open  spot,  which  was  almost  out  of 
sight  of  the  horses  below,  he  turned  down  the  stream, 
and  keeping  himself  always  well  back  from  the  valley 
in  the  timber,  again  stopped  opposite  the  camp. 
From  here,  for  a  time  he  watched.  The  men  loafed 
about  the  camp  ;  but  toward  the  middle  of  the  morn- 
ing the  boy  walked  out  among  the  horses,  and  catch- 
ing one  tiiat  was  evidently  picketed,  took  it  back  to 
camp,  saddled  it,  and  rode  up  the  stream.  He  was  not 
gone  long,  and  indeed  did  not  pass  out  of  H  ugh's  sight. 
His  only  purpose  was  to  round  up  the  horses,  driving 
those  up  stream  down  opposite  the  camp,  and  when 
he  had  done  that  he  rode  down  stream  and  started 
the  animals  that  were  feeding  there  up  to  the  others. 

Hugh  could  now  make  a  close  estimate  of  the 
number  of  the  animals,  and  after  having  counted  them 
a  number  of  times,  he  made  up  his  mind  that  there 
were  between  ninety  and  a  hundred.  Of  these  three 
seemed  to  be  picketed,  and  he  took  careful  note  of 
their  location,  for  he  had  already  made  up  his  mind 
what  he  intended  to  do. 

After  the  boy  had  rounded  up  the  horses  he  caught 
a  fresh  horse,  put  it  on  picket  and  then  riding  back  to 
the  camp,  unsaddled  and  turned  loose  the  horse  he 
had  been  riding. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

STEALING  FROM  HORSE  THIEVES 

Hugh  now  knew  all  that  he  was  likely  to  learn,  and 

starting  down  stream,  still  well  out  of  sight  in  the 
timber,  he  kept  along  the  mountain  side  until  the 
camp  had  been  left  two  or  three  miles  behind.  Then 
mounting,  he  passed  out  into  the  open  valley,  and 
keeping  close  to  its  border,  rode  hard  to  the  Platte 
River.  It  was  but  little  after  noon  when  he  rode  into 
the  Platte  bottom,  and  two  hours  more  brought  him 
in  sight  of  his  camp.  The  boys  saw  him  while  he  was 
yet  a  long  way  off,  and  he  could  see  them  standing 
and  watching  him,  and  talking  together  as  he  ap- 
proached. 

As  he  rode  up  to  the  lodge  he  said,  "  Well,  boys, 
here  I  am.  Now,  I  wish  you  two  would  go  out  and 
catch  up  old  Baldy  and  your  two  riding  horses,  and 
bring  them  in  and  put  them  on  picket.  We've 
got  to  pack  up,  too,  before  very  long,  and  get  ready 
for  a  quick  move  and  a  long  ride.  When  you  get 
your  horses  we'll  have  something  to  eat,  and  I'll  tell 
you  what's  happened." 

Hugh  unsaddled,  filled  his  pipe,  started  the  fire,  and 
began  to  cook  some  food,  for  by  this  time  he  was 
pretty  hungry.  While  he  was  cooking,  the  boys  came 
in  and  picketed  the  horses,  and  then  Hugh  said  to 
them,    "  We'd    better   get    our   packs    together,   and 


258  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

pull  down  the  lodge,  and  get  everything  ready  for  a 
move.  I  went  up  there  and  found  the  camp  of  these 
fellows.  They're  horse  thieves,  all  right  enough,  and 
they've  about  a  hundred  head  of  horses,  most  of  them 
Mr.  Sturgis',  but  some  are  Powell's,  and  some  belong 
to  other  neighbors  of  ours.  Of  course  I  could  not  see 
the  brands  on  all  the  horses,  but  I  saw  the  men  that 
were  driving  them,  and  that's  enough  for  me.  I  don't 
know,  son,  if  you  ever  saw  Red  McClusky  or  Jack 
Dowling;  but  they're  the  men  up  there  with  the 
horses,  with  a  boy  not  much  older  than  you  two,  and 
I  expect  they've  run  *em  off  and  are  going  to  take 
*em  up  north. 

"  Now,  I  figure  that  we  can  do  one  of  two  things. 
We  can  go  up  there  and  kill  those  fellows,  and  drive 
the  horses  back,  or  we  can  go  up  there  and  steal  the 
horses  from  them,  and  leave  them  afoot,  and  just 
take  the  horses  back  on  the  range. 

"  I  feel  some  like  killing  the  thieves,  but  I  don't  want 
you  boys  to  be  mixed  up  in  anything  of  that  kind  ;  it 
might  be  bad  for  you.  I  reckon  the  best  thing  we 
can  do  will  be  to  go  up  and  steal  the  horses ;  steal 
*em  all  if  we  can,  so  as  to  leave  them  fellows  afoot. 
But  if  they've  got  sand  to  follow  us,  why  then  we've 
got  to  fight ;  because  I  know  mighty  well  that  they've 
no  right  to  this  property." 

The  boys  said  nothing  for  a  time,  but  when  Hugh 
spoke  of  stealing  the  horses  they  looked  at  each  other 
and  grinned,  with  a  delight  that  they  could  not  conceal. 

*'  What  are  you  fellows  laughing  at  ?  "  said  Hugh, 
when  he  saw  them.  "This  ain't  no  joke;  this  is 
serious  business." 


STEALING  FROM  HORSE  THIEVES     259 

"That's  so,  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "but  I  guess  we 
were  both  laughing  because  Joe  suggested  that  if 
these  were  horse  thieves,  the  best  thing  we  could  do 
would  be  to  go  and  steal  the  horses." 

"Well,"  said  Hugh,  "I  reckon  that's  what  weVe 
got  to  do ;  but  I  do  hope  that  we  can  get  'em  all. 
Now,  to  do  that,  we've  each  one  of  us  got  to  do  his 
part,  and  to  do  it  the  best  way  we  know  how.  I'd 
rather  have  done  it  last  night  than  do  it  to-night, 
because  last  night  those  fellows  were  tired,  and  to- 
night they'll  sleep  lighter ;  they  may  hear  the  horses 
walking  off ;  but  all  the  same,  I  don't  believe  they 
will.  Now,  you  boys  better  saddle  your  horses,  and 
we'll  make  up  the  packs  and  put  *em  all  together  here, 
and  put  hobbles  on  the  pack  animals,  so  that  there'll 
be  no  time  lost  in  catching  them,  when  we  come  back. 
You  see,  if  we  have  to  stop  here  it'll  take  quite  a  time 
to  pack,  and  if  we  leave  any  horses  up  there  for  those 
fellows  to  ride,  they  may  follow  us  for  a  way,  and 
there's  no  saying  what  may  happen.  I  don't  want 
either  of  you  boys  to  get  shot,  and  I'm  sure  I  don't 
want   to  get  shot  myself." 

After  the  meal  was  eaten,  the  packs  were  quickly 
made  up,  the  pack  horses  were  driven  in,  caught  and 
hobbled,  and  the  afternoon  was  not  half  gone  when 
the  three  were  riding  back  up  the  valley. 

Jack  and  Joe  were  somewhat  impatient,  but  Hugh 
checked  them.  "There's  no  hurry,"  he  said,  "we 
can't  do  anything  till  the  middle  of  the  night.  Those 
fellows  may  sit  up  round  the  fire  for  quite  a  while, 
and  they  might  notice  if  the  horses  were  moving 
much.     I  am  in  hopes  that  Joe  and  X  can  go  up  there 


26o  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

afoot,  and  cut  loose  their  riding  horses,  and  then  just 
slowly  and  quietly  shove  the  whole  bunch  down  until 
we  get  them  well  below  the  camp,  and  then  we  can  start 
them  at  a  good  gait.  There'll  be  no  trouble  about 
keeping  them  going  fast,  for  we've  got  plenty  of  riding 
horses  in  the  bunch  there,  and  we  can  change  often." 

The  sun  had  not  set  when  they  entered  the  valley. 
They  followed  it  up  for  what  seemed  to  the  boys  a 
long  distance,  but  at  length  Hugh  stopped  and  dis- 
mounted, saying,  "  The  camp  is  only  about  a  mile 
above  here." 

It  was  now  dark  night.  Hugh  sat  down  on  the 
ground,  holding  his  horse's  bridle,  and  began  to  fill 
his  pipe,  and  the  boys  sat  close  to  him. 

"  Now,"  he  said,  "  I  am  going  to  take  you  boys  up 
just  where  I  came  down  this  morning,  and  we'll  get 
around  these  horses  at  the  upper  end  of  the  valley, 
and  work  them  down  slowly  on  the  other  side  from 
the  camp.  I'll  go  over  and  cut  loose  the  horses  that 
are  picketed,  and  then  we'll  work  en  slowly  until  we 
get  down  well  below  this.  Then  we  can  go.  I  don't 
want  either  of  you  boys  to  shoot  unless  you  have  to; 
and  if  you  have  to,  I'd  rather  have  you  shoot  not  to 
kill,  but  to  cripple.  If  you  get  a  chance,  shoot  at  the 
man's  shoulder,  so  he  can't  use  his  gun.  On  the 
other  hand,  I've  heard  that  Dowling  is  handy  with  a 
gun  in  either  hand.  We've  got  to  take  some  chances, 
of  course.  I  don't  expect  we'll  see  anything  of  those 
fellows  without  we  leave  them  a  horse  or  two.  If  we 
do  that,  why  then  to-morrow  morning  they'll  come 
on.  You  boys  keep  right  close  after  me,  and  try  to 
make   as   little   noise   as   you    can.     Don't   let   your 


STEALING  FROM  HORSE  THIEVES     261 

horses  call.  They  may  want  to  when  they  smell  the 
others,  but  keep  them  from  doing  it  if  you  can." 

Keeping  well  to  the  left,  and  close  in  under  the  tim- 
ber,  Hugh  rode  slowly  along,  and  after  a  time  they  saw 
the  light  of  the  fire  flickering  on  the  other  side  of  the 
valley,  and  occasionally  could  see  shadows  passing  in 
front  of  it.  As  they  moved  along,  they  saw,  from 
time  to  time,  horses  feeding,  and  once  rode  close  to 
an  old  mare,  whose  little  colt,  not  seeing  them  until 
they  were  near,  gave  a  great  bound  into  the  air  and 
rushed  away  for  a  few  yards. 

Hugh  kept  on  up  the  valley  until  it  narrowed,  going 
almost  to  the  point  where  he  had  crossed  in  the  morn- 
ing.    Then  he  stopped  and  said  to  the  boys : 

"  Now  get  off  your  horses  and  lead  them.  I  reckon 
we're  above  all  the  horses,  and  now  we'll  go  back  down 
stream.  Keep  on  the  side  away  from  the  camp ;  keep 
spread  out  some ;  and  when  you  come  to  any  horses 
just  walk  toward  them  and  get  them  to  move  along 
slowly.  I'll  keep  out  toward  the  middle  until  we  get 
down  near  the  camp ;  then,  if  the  fire's  gone  down, 
I'll  try  to  cut  loose  the  horses,  and  I'll  try  to  push 
them  and  all  the  others  down  the  stream.  It  may 
take  longer  than  we  think,  and  you  boys  when  you 
get  down  where  we  went  into  the  timber,  on  the  way 
up,  get  off  your  horses  and  lie  down  on  the  ground 
together  and  wait.  See  that  you  don't  make  any 
noise;  see  that  you  don't  shoot  me;  keep  your  wits 
about  you  ;  and  don't  get  excited  or  scared."  The 
boys  listened  without  a  word. 

"Now,"  Hugh  continued,  "  we'll  start.  Jack,  you 
go  over  next  to  the  timber,  but  keep  fairly  well  out 


2^2  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

from  the  edge,  and  try  to  see  all  the  time  that  you 
don't  miss  any  of  the  horses.  Joe,  you  keep  out 
nearer  the  middle,  and  get  all  the  horses  you  can,  and 
both  of  you  work  as  slow  and  careful  as  you  know 
how." 

The  three  separated  and  set  about  their  task.  To 
Jack  it  seemed  sort  of  shivery  work,  being  off  there 
alone.  He  wondered  if  anything  would  happen  to 
Hugh  or  Joe;  whether  the  thieves  would  find  out 
what  was  being  done,  and  would  attack  them ; 
whether  Hugh  and  Joe  would  meet  him  down  at  the 
end  of  the  valley,  and  what  in  the  world  he  would  do 
if  they  did  not.  He  had  not  much  time  for  thoughts 
like  these,  however,  for  he  had  to  watch  the  sky-line 
of  the  timber,  and  to  figure  how  far  he  was  from  it ; 
to  look  out  for  horses  in  front  of  him,  and  to  travel 
along  without  stumbling,  or  running  into  little  low 
bushes,  or  doing  anything  that  would  make  a  noise. 

Before  long  he  saw  his  first  horse,  an  old  mare  with 
a  colt.  He  walked  toward  her,  and  as  he  approached, 
she  began  slowly  to  walk  away.  Then  there  were 
other  horses  ofif  to  his  right  and  to  his  left,  and  he 
walked  back  and  forward  across  the  valley,  sometimes 
seeing  that  the  horses  to  his  left  were  moving  slowly 
along  down  the  valley,  which  told  him  that  Joe  was 
doing  his  work,  sometimes  coming  to  a  large  bunch 
of  brush,  around  which  he  had  to  pass  in  order  to  be 
sure  that  no  horses  were  hidden  there.  All  the  time 
he  kept  a  good  lookout  across  the  valley,  to  see  if  he 
could  see  the  fire  of  the  camp,  and  at  length,  after  he 
had  gone,  as  it  seemed,  a  very  long  way,  he  recog- 
nized,  under  the   opposite  hills,  a  dim  glow  on   the 


STEALING  FROM  HORSE  THIEVES     263 

bushes,  which  told  him  of  a  fire  burned  down.  This 
he  was  glad  to  see,  because  it  made  him  feel  sure  that 
the  thieves  had  gone  to  bed  and  were  asleep. 

By  this  time  he  had  in  front  of  him  a  good  many 
horses,  all  going  quietly  and  feeding  as  they  went. 
Now  and  then  two  or  three  would  lag  behind,  and  he 
was  obliged  to  cross  over  and  walk  behind  them,  but 
they  at  once  started  on,  and  Jack  felt  pretty  sure 
that,  so  far  as  his  side  of  the  valley  was  concerned, 
the  horses  had  all  been  gathered.  As  he  approached 
the  place  where  they  had  entered  the  timber  he  began 
to  hope  that  before  long  he  would  see  Joe  ;  and  it  was 
not  very  long  after  that  that  he  saw  one  horse  lagging 
behind  all  the  rest,  and  as  he  went  over  to  drive  it 
along,  he  saw  that  someone  was  walking  by  it,  and 
knew  that  this  must  be  Joe.  He  wanted  to  go  over 
and  speak  to  him,  but  remembering  that  he  had  his 
own  horses  to  look  after,  he  restrained  himself  and 
kept  on  down  the  valley.  At  the  same  time  he  was 
glad  to  be  sure  that  Joe  was  close  by.  Now,  if  only 
Hugh  would  appear,  he  should  feel  that  they  were  all 
right.  Now  the  valley  grew  more  and  more  narrow, 
and  the  boys  were  closer  together,  and  presently,  as 
the  horses  bunched  up  to  pass  through  a  narrow  place 
between  two  points  of  timber,  Jack  and  Joe  were 
almost  side  by  side. 

"  Everything  all  right,  Joe?"  said  Jack. 

"All  right,"  said  Joe.  "We've  got  a  good  bunch 
of  horses." 

"  Have  you  seen  anything  of  Hugh  ?"  said  Jack. 

"  No,"  said  Joe,  "I  ain't  seen  Hugh,  but  the  horses 
off  to  my  left  are  moving  along;  I  reckon  he's  there 


164  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

somewhere."  The  words  were  hardly  spoken  when 
suddenly,  apparently  from  a  horse  that  was  walking 
just  in  front  of  them,  Hugh's  voice  said: 

"  All  right,  boys  ;  I  believe  we've  done  the  trick.  I 
think  we  can  mount  now  and  go  ahead.  Don't  start 
'em  up  yet,  we'll  go  two  or  three  miles  further,  and 
then  we'll  let  'em  sail."  Both  boys  were  delighted 
to  hear  Hugh,  and  they  mounted  and  crowded  close 
to  him. 

"  O  Hugh,"  said  Jack,  "  do  you  think  we  got  *em 
all  ?  " 

"Well,"  said  Hugh,  "I  don't  know  about  that, 
we've  got  the  most  of  'em.  They  may  have  riding 
horses  cached  in  the  brush  somewhere.  I  was  afraid 
to  go  right  close  to  the  camp,  for  fear  some  of  'em 
might  be  awake ;  but  I  got  two  picketed  horses ; 
there  may  be  one  hidden  somewhere  else ;  but  I  don't 
believe  they've  got  horses  enough  to  ride  to-morrow, 
and  I'm  almighty  sure  they  haven't  got  horses  enough 
to  catch  us." 

"  What  time  is  it,  Hugh,  do  you  think?"  said  Jack. 

"  Well,  I  don't  know,"  said  Hugh,  "  but  it's  consid- 
erable after  the  middle  of  the  night.  We've  got 
plenty  of  time  to  get  these  horses  down  to  camp,  and 
pack,  and  start  the  whole  outfit  on  before  it  gets  day; 
and  pretty  soon  I'm  going  to  begin  to  hurry  'em.  I 
want  you  two  boys  to  drive  the  horses,  and  when  we 
get  out  of  the  valley,  I'm  going  to  ride  round  them, 
and  go  ahead  of  them  and  lead  them.  Keep  them 
going  well  until  you  hear  me  whoop  ;  or  if  you  can't 
hear  me,  until  you  see  me.  I  shall  ride  pretty  hard 
until  we  get  near  the  camp,  but  we  must  stop  the 


STEALING  FROM  HORSE  THIEVES     265 

horses  before  we  get  there;  otherwise  they'll  frighten 
our  pack  animals,  and  we  won't  be  able  to  catch  them. 
Now,"  said  Hugh,  as  they  came  to  a  little  enlarge- 
ment of  the  valley,  "  I'll  go  ahead,  and  you  give  me  a 
few  minutes  to  get  around  them,  and  then  start  them 
up.  When  I  hear  them  beginning  to  gallop,  I'll  go 
just  ahead  of  them,  and  they'll  all  follow  me." 

The  cavalcade  proceeded  at  a  walk  for  ten  minutes 
more,  and  then  Joe  and  Jack  began  to  hurry  the 
animals,  and  before  long  they  were  galloping  at  a 
good  rate  of  speed  down  the  valley.  When  they 
reached  the  Platte  bottom  the  horses  turned  off,  fol- 
lowing the  trail  by  which  they  had  come  up,  and 
swung  steadily  along  at  a  good  gait.  Now  and  then 
Jack  recognized,  even  in  the  darkness,  a  place  that 
they  had  passed  before,  but  for  the  most  part  the 
country  all  looked  strange  to  him.  It  seemed  as  if 
they  had  been  going  for  a  long  time  when  he  thought 
he  heard  a  faint  whoop  from  in  front,  and  at  the 
same  moment  Joe  called  out  to  him  : 

"  Hold  on.  Jack  ;  drop  back.  Hugh  called,  and  we 
must  let  the  horses  stop." 

They  drew  their  horses  into  a  walk,  and  before  long 
the  animals  they  were  driving  also  slowed  down. 
Then,  after  a  little  while  they  heard  Hugh,  not  far  in 
front  of  them,  calling  out: 

"  Come  round  here,  boys,  and  help  catch  the  pack 
animals,  and  put  the  packs  on." 

They  rode  through  the  horses,  which  had  now 
stopped  and  begun  to  feed,  and  it  took  but  a  short 
time  to  catch  their  pack  horses,  and  saddle  and  pack 
up.  Then  turning  loose  the  packs,  they  all  three  rode 
round  behind  the  herd,  and  started  it  on  again. 


CHAPTER   XXIII 

**DIED  WITH   HIS  BOOTS  ON** 

It  was  now  growing  light,  and  they  drove  the 
horses  hard.  Hugh  rode  steadily  behind  the  bunch, 
while  the  boys  were  out  on  either  flank,  keeping  them 
straight,  and  not  permitting  any  lagging.  Once  they 
stopped  for  a  little  while  and  caught  three  fresh 
horses  which  Hugh  pointed  out,  put  their  saddles  on 
them  and  turned  loose  their  own  horses. 

The  morning  passed,  and  it  was  now  the  middle  of 
the  afternoon.  The  boys  had  noticed  that  Hugh 
often  turned  about  and  looked  back  up  the  level  val- 
ley, and  they  themselves  were  also  watching  the  back 
trail  to  see  whether  there  was  any  pursuit.  The  sun 
was  getting  low,  when  far  back  up  the  valley  was  seen 
a  speck  of  dust,  which  gradually  grew  larger,  and 
underneath  it  they  could  see  a  black  spot  that  was 
constantly  growing  nearer  and  nearer.  It  was  evi- 
dently a  man  on  horseback.  After  they  had  watched 
it  for  some  time,  Hugh  motioned  both  boys  to  come 
over  toward  him,  and  riding  there  side  by  side  in  the 
thick  dust  kicked  up  by  the  hurrying  herd,  Hugh  said 
to  them  : 

"  Boys,  there's  one  man  coming,  and  he's  on  a  good 
horse,  and  we've  got  to  kill  him,  I  expect.  Let  these 
horses    stop    now,  and  catch  up  three  other  animals 


"DIED  WITH  HIS  BOOTS  ON"  267 

and  change  the  packs  onto  them,  and  by  that  time 
this  fellow  will  be  close  up  to  us,  and  we  can  see  what 
he  wants." 

They  slowed  down  their  horses,  the  willing  herd 
stopped  and   began  to  feed. 

Jack  and  Joe  rode  through  it,  and  one  by  one 
caught  the  pack  horses,  which  they  brought  back  to 
Hugh.  Then  Hugh,  sitting  on  his  horse,  pointed  out 
to  them  other  animals  to  catch,  and  they  roped  them, 
brought  them  up,  and  one  by  one  the  packs  were 
transferred  to  the  new  horses.  The  horses  did  not 
like  it  very  much,  and  one  or  two  of  them  bucked, 
and  to  Jack  it  seemed  rather  nervous  work  to  be  do- 
ing this  when  the  approaching  horseman  kept  grow- 
ing larger  and  larger,  and  when,  for  all  he  knew, 
before  long  bullets  would  be  flying.  The  work  was 
finished  before  the  horseman  was  near  them,  and  then 
Hugh  told  the  boys  to  start  the  herd  on  again.  But 
Jack  demurred,  and  said  : 

"Hold  on,  Hugh;  are  you  going  to  stay  here  and 
meet  this  man  ?  I  think  we  all  ought  to  stay,  because 
something  may  happen." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "I  don't  like  the  idea  of  your 
stopping.  I'd  rather  have  you  go  on  and  start  these 
horses.  Nothing's  going  to  happen  to  me;  I  feel 
pretty  sure  of  that.  I  shall  be  on  the  ground,  and  have 
every  advantage  over  this  fellow,  if  he  wants  trouble." 

"Hugh,"  said  Joe,  "how  will  this  do:  suppose 
Jack  gets  off  twenty  steps  one  side  of  you  and  I  get 
off  twenty  steps  on  the  other,  and  we  won't  do 
anything  unless  it  looks  like  you  were  going  to  get 
hurt ;  then  we  can  shoot." 


268  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

"All  right,"  said  Hugh,  "  if  it  will  make  you  boys 
feel  any  easier;  but  I  tell  you  nothing  is  going  to 
happen.  If  that  fellow  don't  stop  when  he  gets  with- 
in good  rifle  shot  I'll  stop  him,  and  I  won't  hurt  him 
either.  If  he's  got  so  much  sand  that  he  won't  know 
when  a  man's  got  the  drop  on  him,  I  may  have  to  hurt 
him,  but  I  don't  look  to." 

The  man  came  on ;  his  horse  was  a  great  powerful 
beast  and  had  been  ridden  hard,  for  it  was  covered 
with  dust  and  foam.  When  he  got  within  a  hundred 
yards,  Hugh  dismounted,  and  stepping  out  in  front  of 
his  horse,  raised  his  rifle  to  his  shoulder,  and  pointed 
it  at  the  man.  The  man  paid  no  attention  to  the 
motion,  save  to  put  his  hand  behind  him  and  jerk 
from  his  holster  a  six-shooter.  He  called  out  some- 
thing as  he  came  on,  but  they  could  not  distinguish 
what  he  said. 

"  Hands  up  !"  Hugh  called  ;  but  the  man  paid  no 
attention,  and  the  distance  between  the  party  and  the 
rider  grew  smaller. 

"Hands  up!"  Hugh  shouted  again,  and  then  a 
third  time  ;  and  still  the  man  came  on.  Hugh  fired, 
and  the  horse  plunged  forward  on  his  knees  throwing 
the  rider  far  before  him.     It  was  Dowling. 

He  struck  on  his  head  and  hands  and  slid  a  little 
way  along  the  earth,  and  then  springing  to  his  feet, 
with  his  left  hand  he  pulled  another  six-shooter  from 
his  belt  ;  but  as  he  raised  it,  Hugh's  rifle  sounded 
again,  and  the  man  fell. 

"  Look  out  for  him,  boys  !  Don't  go  near  him  ;  he's 
like  a  grizzly  bear ;  likely  to  be  playing  possum." 
Hugh  watched  the  man  with  a  wary  eye,  and  was  not 


"DIED  WITH  HIS  BOOTS  ON"  269 

surprised  to  see  him  after  a  moment  raise  himself  on 
one  elbow  and  feel  about  over  the  ground,  in  the  effort 
to  recover  the  pistol  which  he  had  dropped.  Hugh 
had  seen  it  fall,  and  knowing  the  man's  quickness  with 
the  pistol,  watched  him  carefully.  In  a  moment,  how- 
ever, the  man  sank  back  and  seemed  to  be  breathing 
hard,  and  Hugh  called  to  the  boys: 

"  Watch  him,  now,  and  I'll  step  up  to  him  and  get 
that  gun  ;  I'll  be  ready  for  him  if  he  moves." 

Hugh  stepped  carefully  but  quickly  forward,  with 
his  gun  ready,  and  had  almost  reached  the  man,  when 
he  moved  slightly,  and  Hugh  sprang  swiftly  to  one 
side,  as  the  pistol  was  discharged  without  being  raised. 
In  a  moment  Hugh  was  on  the  man,  and  had  taken 
the  arm  from  him  and  thrown  it  to  one  side. 

Dowling  was  badly  wounded,  and  it  was  evident  he 
could  not  live  long.  When  his  pistols  had  been  secured 
they  did  what  they  could  to  make  him  comfortable. 
Joe  went  to  the  river  and  brought  water  in  his  hat, 
and  after  a  little,  Dowling  opened  his  eyes  and  spoke. 

"Well,  you've  got  me,"  he  said;  "I  was  in  hopes 
I'd  get  you.  I  couldn't  stand  it  to  have  those  horses 
taken,  but  I  wish  you'd  taken  this  one,  instead  of 
leaving  it  for  me  to  ride.  However,  we  made  a  good 
try  to  get  the  stock,  and  we  would  have  got  it  if  it 
hadn't  been  for  you.  Where  did  you  come  from  ? 
We  never  saw  anything  of  you." 

"We  were  just  travelling  down  the  river,"  said 
Hugh,  "  and  saw  the  tracks,  and  I  knew  there  wasn't 
any  reason  for  a  bunch  of  horses  to  be  driven  through 
this  country  ;  so  I  went  back  to  look  up  and  see  what 
it  meant,  and  I  found  that  you'd  got  our  horses." 


270  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

"  Well,"  said  Dowling,  "  a  fool  for  luck  !  Anybody 
else  coming  through  the  country  wouldn't  have  paid 
any  attention  to  that  horse  trail,  but  you  just  had  to 
do  it. 

"  I  reckon  I've  got  it,"  he  went  on  ;  "  and  I  expect 
it's  about  time  too,  but  I  hate  almightily  to  be 
downed  by  an  old  man.  I'd  a  heap  sight  rather  have 
had  one  of  them  young  fellows  kill  me." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "  I  expect  when  a  man's  time 
comes,  it  don't  make  much  difference  how  he  gets 
killed." 

'*  No,"  said  Dowling,  "  I  expect  maybe  it  don't.  I 
always  allowed  I  die  with  my  boots  on,  anyhow,  and 
here  I  am." 

During  the  few  moments  that  had  elapsed  since  he 
had  received  his  wound  his  voice  had  grown  much 
weaker.  He  was  not  bleeding  much,  but  Hugh  shook 
his  head  as  he  looked  at  the  wound. 

*'  Have  some  more  water,  Dowling?"  he  said. 

"Yes,  a  little,"  said  Dowling;  but  as  Hugh  raised 
him  up  to  drink,  he  began  to  choke,  and  in  a  moment, 
after  a  shudder  or  two,  lay  dead. 

"Well,  boys,"  said  Hugh,  "  we've  got  to  bury  him, 
and  then  move  along.  Suppose  you  two  go  over  onto 
the  edge  of  that  bluff  and  scrape  away  the  clay,  as 
much  as  you  can  with  your  knives,  and  I'll  bring  the 
body  over,  and  put  his  saddle-blanket  over  him,  and 
we'll  cover  him  up." 

It  had  all  happened  so  quickly,  and  there  had  been 
so  much  excitement  about  it,  that  Jack  hardly  under- 
stood or  realized  what  had  happened.  He  and  Joe 
walked  over  to  the  bluff,  and  scraping  away  the  soft 


"DIED  WITH  HIS  BOOTS  ON  271 

yellow  clay,  soon  made  a  place  six  or  eight  feet  long, 
and  presently  Hugh  came  over,  carrying  the  man  on 
his  shoulder,  and  they  laid  him  in  his  shallow  grave. 
Hugh  took  off  his  belt,  and  looked  through  his  pockets 
to  see  if  he  had  any  papers  by  which  he  might  be 
identified,  but  found  none.  They  covered  him  with 
the  earth,  and  brought  flat  stones  that  had  fallen 
down  from  the  top  of  the  bluff,  and  piled  them  upon 
the  grave,  to  protect  it  from  the  wolves. 

Then  Hugh  went  back,  and  picking  up  the  two  pis- 
tols that  Dowling  had  dropped,  shoved  them  in  the 
holsters,  and  holding  out  the  belt  to  Jack,  he  said, 
•*  You  want  to  wear  this,  son  ?  " 

•'  Why,  yes,  Hugh,  I'd  like  to  have  it  to  remember 
this  day  by,  though  there  are  some  things  that  I 
don't  much  care  to  remember." 

"  Well,"  said  Hugh,  "this  is  the  way  things  used  to 
be  in  the  far  west,  but  I  thought  we'd  about  got 
through  with  it  by  this  time.  However,  some  of  the 
old  spirit  seems  to  crop  out  now  and  then." 

They  mounted,  and  started  the  herd  along  again. 
They  had  not  gone  far  before  Hugh  said,  "  I  want  you 
boys  to  drive  these  animals  on  three  or  four  miles 
down  the  creek,  and  leave  them  there;  but  cut  out 
the  pack  horses,  and  we'll  camp  right  here." 

Camp  was  made  in  a  bunch  of  cottonwood  brush, 
but  the  lodge  was  not  put  up.  The  pack  horses  were 
hobbled,  and  then  the  boys  drove  the  loose  horses 
some  distance  further  down  the  stream,  and  returning 
found  the  camp  dark,  but  supper  ready. 

"I  thought,"  said  Hugh,  "that  there  was  just  a 
chance  that  those  two  other  fellows  might   follow  us 


272  JACK  IN  THE  ROCKIES 

down  and  try  to  take  some  of  the  horses  back  again; 
so  we  had  better  stop  here,  without  any  fire,  and  with 
the  horses  kept  close,  and  make  an  early  start  in  the 
morning." 

Hugh  had  them  up  long  before  day.  They  built  no 
fire,  but  ate  some  dried  meat,  and  started  on.  The 
tired  horses  were  found  just  where  they  had  been  left, 
were  pushed  along  at  a  good  gait  all  day  and  crossed 
the  Platte;  and  the  next  night  they  drove  them  into 
Mr.  Sturgis'  ranch  to  the  great  astonishment  of  all 
there,  and  later  of  Powell,  and  the  other  men  from 
whom  horses  had  been  stolen. 

Great  was  the  credit  received  by  all  three  of  those 
who  had  brought  back  the  stolen  horses.  Mr.  Sturgis 
gave  to  Jack  and  Joe  each  three  good  riding  animals ; 
and  to  this  day  Jack  talks  of  the  only  horse  stealing 
expedition  he  was  ever  on. 


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